


Project Delta

by tooyoungtobesostressed



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF boys, Biological Warfare, Confused Harry, Crossing Timelines, Evil Alexander Pierce, Gen, Genius Peter Parker, Hurt, Hydra (Marvel), Kidnapped, Modern Setting Retelling of Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Battle of Manhattan, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Never Say Die, Powerful Alex Rider, Powerful Harry Potter, Powerful Percy Jackson, Powerful Peter Parker, Pre-HYDRA Reveal, Protective Avengers, SHIELD, Sassy Percy Jackson, Sleep Deprivation, Starvation, Super Team, Superpowers, Testing - Freeform, Training, Underground Bunker, Unimpressed Alex Rider, Violence, Wizarding World (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2020-11-27 12:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 46,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20948579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tooyoungtobesostressed/pseuds/tooyoungtobesostressed
Summary: Status: Acquired.Contact:HeraS.H.I.E.L.D.Albus DumbledoreAlan Blunt•	Warning. Suspicious of the government and authority.•	Undocumented abilities- it is still uncertain how much they can do. Testing Required.•	MEMORY WIPE SUCCESSFUL.Nick Fury sent out a message to Alexander Pierce of only one word. Acquired."The others will follow if these four succeed. I will make sure of that."





	1. Acquired.

_"It's finally been approved-"_

_"Thank god-"_

_"But there's a problem."_

He closed his eye and exhaled through his nose, slowly and deeply. It was the first outward sign of frustration he had ever shown in the office, much less to the agent before him, but it was also the end of the world- so it felt fitting.

"What is it?"

"Only four of them were approved."

"What?"

"Only-"

"I heard. I wanted a team of at least fifteen. What happened?"

"They weren't sure about them."

"Which ones were approved?"

"Jackson, Parker, Potter, and Rider."

"Ah. I can see why only they were approved."

"The council were unsure about even them, but-"

"But they're the _type_ of people they can trust, I imagine?"

"They're old fashioned, but at least they approved those four. We need to be careful with these new ideas."

"What we _need _is a new council."

The younger agent scoffed in agreement, then immediately returned to her solid stance and blank expression. They had been fighting the council for almost a year, and they were running out of time. The idea itself had landed the team on thin ice, and none of the could afford to be on the wrong side of the council after they finally approved the idea. They had so little time.

While Agent Hill watched, Nick Fury sent out a message to Alexander Pierce of only one word. **Acquired**.

"The others will follow if these four succeed. I will make sure of that."


	2. Project Delta

He had just sat down in his office, on his favourite leather couch when he got the message from Nick Fury. His face was blank, almost bored, as he simply gazed at it.

His mind, however, was completely surprised. This idea should never have been approved- it was immoral, it was risky, it could jeopardize S.H.I.E.L.D.

That's why Alexander Pierce like the idea so much.

Nick Fury is panicking. The Avengers Initiative is at a standstill. After the time and money spent on gathering the team, he keeps running into problems. Of course, these problems are nothing Pierce cannot put to end with a phone call, but he had never had cause to need Fury busy elsewhere... until now.

He opened the file Fury gave him over a year ago, an idea. As he added the new report that had been faxed over with Fury's message, he looked over the original report, now obsolete. It included the profiles of twenty powerful and special teenagers, with the idea of putting them into a team.

At the time Pierce had thrown the file onto his coffee table and moved on to other things. The end of the world was coming. Nick Fury likes teams. What else is new?

But now, with the idea approved... Pierce looked over the profiles of four boys- the only teenagers approved for the program, according to an update he received from the council after Nick Fury's message.

** PERCY JACKSON **

Age: 16

Nationality: Citizen of USA

Species: Demigod (Human/Greek god)

Gender: Male

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Green

Height: 6'0

Contact: Hera (Greek goddess)

**Status: Acquired.**

· Warning. Suspicious of the government and authority.

· Reasonable temperament.

· Intelligent. Tactful knowledge and experienced in combat. Very resourceful and knowledgeable in the field of Greek Mythology.

· Most powerful of the group. Powers related to the sea god Poseidon. Undocumented abilities- it is still uncertain as to how much he can do. Testing Required.****

· **MEMORY WIPE SUCCESSFUL.**

** PETER PARKER **

Age: 15

Nationality: Citizen of USA

Species: Mutate (Human/radioactive spider)

Gender: Male

Hair Colour: Brown

Eye Colour: Brown

Height: 5'8

Contact: S.H.I.E.L.D

**Status: Acquired.**

· Easily trusting but extremely intelligent. Propose plan with caution.

· Smooth temperament.

· Most intelligent of the group. Genius level intellect. Extremely knowledgeable in multiple fields, including but not limited to combat and the sciences.

· Powerful. Abilities are not yet all documented. Spider Mutate. Able to climb walls and exhibits super-human strength. Testing Required.

· **MEMORY WIPE SUCCESSFUL.**

** HARRY POTTER **

Age: 18

Nationality: Citizen of UK

Species: Magical Human

Gender: Male

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Green

Height: 5'9

Contact: Albus Dumbledore

**Status: Acquired.**

· Suspicious of the government and authority.

· Explosive temperament.

· Intelligent. Tactful knowledge and experienced in magical combat. Very resourceful and knowledgeable in the field of Magic.

· Very Powerful. It is suspected that he has the widest domain of abilities, although they are not yet all documented. Experienced in Magic and an expert in most fields of Magic. Superior knowledge in magical combat and excelled in his schooling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Testing Required.

· **MEMORY WIPE SUCCESSFUL.**

** ALEX RIDER **

Age: 15

Nationality: Citizen of UK

Species: Human

Gender: Male

Hair Colour: Fair

Eye Colour: Brown

Height: 5'7

Contact: Alan Blunt

**Status: Acquired.**

· Warning. Suspicious of the government and authority.

· Calm temperament.

· Superior intelligence. Extremely knowledgeable in multiple fields, including but not limited to multiple styles of combat.

· Specialized and highly trained, most familiar in his field- has an impressive portfolio. No magical or super-human abilities. Skilled in multiple styles of combat and physically fit. Ties with MI6 may allow for a transfer of complete analysis regarding his abilities.

· **MEMORY WIPE SUCCESSFUL.**

When Pierce closed the file, he was smiling. The things he could do with a team of powerful teenagers turning over in his mind. He wondered if they would easily be persuaded. His smiled widened.

He walked to his office table and picked up the phone. The Avengers will be a team, and they will have a common enemy soon enough. Fury must be out of the picture for him to do with this team as he pleases. Fury, the council, and everyone else still with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Those four boys will be his.

They will be: **PROJECT DELTA**


	3. Mission Report: Percy Jackson

** PERCY JACKSON **

Age: 17

Nationality: Citizen of USA

Species: Demigod (Human/Greek god)

Gender: Male

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Green

Height: 6’0

Contact: Hera (Greek goddess)

**Status: Acquired. **

  * Suspicious of the government and authority.
  * Reasonable temperament.
  * Tactful knowledge and experienced in combat. Very resourceful and knowledgeable in the field of Greek Mythology.
  * Most powerful of the group. Powers related to the sea god Poseidon. Undocumented abilities- it is still uncertain as to how much he can do. Testing Required.
  * **MEMORY WIPE SUCCESSFUL.**

* * *

“You shouldn’t be here, man.”

Brock Rumlow didn’t scare easily. Even in the dark of the early morning it was almost impossible to sneak up on him, especially on covert missions like this.

He stepped away from May Castellan’s door, glad he could put off meeting the woman. Pierce discovered this woman by chance, following rumours and stories about her. He believed that she was the closest human link to the Greek gods that was unstable enough to cooperate with SHIELD. Pierce believed that she would be able to tell them where Percy Jackson disappeared off to during summers, as even SHIELD couldn’t find him. Rumlow had been warned that this lady is, shortly put, a complete nutcase, and he’d never had much sympathy in these cases.

The lady who spoke was definitely not May Castellan. He’d seen Ms. Castellan’s picture when he studied her for the mission. Even a miracle make-over couldn’t have turned her into the woman that was in front of him now.

She looked like royalty. She stood tall in a white and blue robe. Rumlow knew and cared very little for fashion, but her dress, her accessories, her _aura _screamed expensive. Of course, she was beautiful, but it was a marred beauty. Her loathing and condescending expression towards him already had Rumlow’s mind made up about her.

“What’s it to you, _lady_?”

Her eyes burned into him. “I will not speak to the likes of you.” The lady looked him up and down, barely hiding the disgusted expression on her face. “Where is your master?”

Rumlow’s fists clenched. “Unavailable.”

She sighed, frustrated. She seemed to glow as she mumbled to herself: “mortals… always an unpleasant encounter… smite them… no respect…”

The lady straightened up further and glared at him. “You cannot contact May Castellan without inciting the wrath of Hermes. I have received your master’s messages; I have accepted his gifts.” Rumlow rolled his eyes, finally realizing who he was talking to. Pierce had a whole monument built in the Greek goddess Hera’s name. He had been warned about her, too.

“I have what he wishes. However-” Hera’s eyes bore into Rumlow. “This _boy_ is extremely important to our world. I will allow your master only one month with him. After this time is complete, he will be collected and sent to San Francisco.” A golden staff topped with a white lotus appeared in Hera’s hand. She pointed the staff at Rumlow threateningly, heat and light radiating off her and the staff. “The fate of the entire world depends on it.”

Rumlow stepped away from the staff, uninterested in Greek theatrics. “Where is he?”

Hera planted the staff beside her. “He is travelling. His mind has been erased of most of his memories, but I have instilled in him a desire to go to San Francisco. By my observations he is in New York City today.”

Rumlow nodded his thanks and turned to walk to his van and his team. As he did, a bright light appeared behind him- already gone by the time he turned his head to inspect it; as was the goddess.

* * *

Rumlow really hated this whole magic and mythology thing Pierce was into. If decisions were up to him, which he soon hoped to be the case, he would just ignore their existence. The different worlds were the source of a never-ending headache for him, and he would gladly just ignore them.

Percy Jackson was being detained in a police-station in New York City. A couple of officers had recognized him from the description SHIELD provided to every New York police officer.

Another cause for Rumlow’s headaches: police officers.

They were so… righteous. He knew they would oppose to sedating the boy with an incapacitating agent through the air duct in the interrogation room he was being held in, so Rumlow arrived ten minutes before the precinct was expecting him to do that himself.

He entered the interrogation room after he was sure the ventilation had eliminated the gas out of the room. The officers seemed anxious to be rid of the boy, and Rumlow could tell why. Although he was asleep now and definitely looked younger than seventeen while incapacitated, Rumlow could tell the boy was a seasoned soldier. He could recognize that build and muscle tone in any fighter, and the boy looked fit and strong- despite his rough and dirty appearance.

He wondered how Nick Fury had known Jackson would become a prominent figure. Fury had put together his list of twenty persons who he wanted to recruit four years ago. There was no way he could have known Jackson would become a formidable solider. Nevertheless, he was on the list. But, unlike the other boys, Percy Jackson only had a few notes beside his name: ‘Stolen Weapon’ and ‘Golden Fleece- Argonauts’. Schadenfreude fueled his smile. Fury _hates_ mythology.

Rumlow remembered his debriefing about Jackson. They didn’t know much about the boy, and what they had collected was pieces of news stories and rumours that didn’t mix together well. The boy had been expelled from seven schools since his first grade. He was a troublemaker and had several learning disabilities. He lived with his mother, Sally Jackson and his stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, until he and his mother went missing when Jackson was twelve years old. What had been later documented as a kidnapping led Percy around America, where he was travelling with two unknown accomplices. He had been involved in the destruction of the Gateway Arch, and after he was returned to his home, had been spotted several times throughout America for the last five years.

Rumlow was also told that, last year, although New York had been put to sleep, Percy Jackson defended the entire city with an unknown number of soldiers against the Titan Kronos and his army. These soldiers were also demigods, children of various Greek deities. At sixteen years old, Percy Jackson saved New York in what was named the Battle of Manhattan, which occurred two years after Loki’s invasion.

SHIELD still did not know if the Battle of Manhattan was linked with the alien invasion, or who the other demigods were that Percy Jackson fought with, but they intended to find out. They also did not know where the gods were during this time, why the fight was centered around the Empire State Building, how Kronos came to be, or how these Greek deities were linked together- this continues to be studied by SHIELD’s researchers and scientists- as is the rumoured battle of Mount Tamalpais and its significance.

There was one thing Rumlow did know. He already knew Percy Jackson would be trouble.

* * *

The boy was secured in his cell after he was further incapacitated. His DNA was being studied by the bunker scientists. His memories had been analyzed and erased further. Pierce wanted the boy to have no recollection of his past at all, after being made aware of his defiant nature.

Rumlow walked into Pierce’s SHIELD office, far, far away from where Percy Jackson was being kept. He walked quickly, eager to debrief his boss quickly. He had several other boys to collect and preferably wanted to have them put away in their underground bunker by the end of the week. Pierce, however, wanted to be debriefed first.

“Rumlow.” The man was sat at his desk, barely looking up at Rumlow’s entrance. His office was spacious and bright, looking over Washington at midday.

“Mission one is complete.”

Pierce looked up and pressed a button at his desk. Rumlow heard the familiar noises of the room being locked down and soundproofed.

He continued. “The goddess gave the boy up. She said we have one month with him.”

Pierce raised his eyebrows. “That’s not enough…” He stood up and absentmindedly walked around the desk, leaning against the front of it. “We need to start working on technology to keep her from taking him back.”

Rumlow nodded once. “I’ll let the bunker know.”

Pierce shook his head, deep in thought. “No, I’ll do it. I want you to focus on the missions.”

Rumlow nodded again. “Is that all?”

Pierce hummed in the affirmative and released the locks and security measures as Rumlow walked to the door, itching to continue his work. His next mission would be easy.

“Rumlow.”

He turned around and stood to attention. Pierce gave him a look of warning.

“The Avengers- well, what’s left of them anyway- they’re back from Germany.”

Rumlow nodded. If the Avengers were back, Nick Fury’s attention was likely to be less… divided. Rumlow would have to be more careful.

He walked out of Alexander Pierce’s office.


	4. Mission Report: Peter Parker

** PETER PARKER  **

Age: 15

Nationality: Citizen of USA

Species: Mutate (Human/radioactive spider)

Gender: Male

Hair Colour: Brown

Eye Colour: Brown

Height: 5’8

Contact: S.H.I.E.L.D

**Status: Acquired.**

  * Easily trusting but extremely intelligent. Propose plan with caution.
  * Smooth temperament.
  * Most intelligent of the group. Genius level intellect. Extremely knowledgeable in multiple fields, including but not limited to combat and the sciences.
  * Abilities are not yet all documented. Spider Mutate. Able to climb walls and exhibits super-human strength. Testing Required.
  * **MEMORY WIPE SUCCESSFUL.**

* * *

As far as he knew, Peter Parker was nothing special.

In fact, Rumlow didn’t know why Pierce wanted the boy to be part of his team. Nick Fury had deemed him important because of his genius level intelligence and his pending internship with Stark Industries. Rumlow had almost convinced Pierce to drop the boy completely, until Tony Stark made Parker his personal intern around the same time tensions between the Avengers were rising.

Alexander Pierce was sure Peter Parker would be useful, even if just to access Stark Technology; so now Rumlow had to collect a teenage science nerd.

Rumlow and his team had discussed many times how best to collect Peter Parker.

The boy’s ties with Stark would make it impossible to recruit him through SHIELD. His existing internship and the current summer holidays excluded the possibility of school involvement.

No, Rumlow would have to kidnap Peter Parker.

“This shouldn’t be too hard. The kid’s probably a wimp.”

The rest of his team in the black van chuckled darkly.

They were waiting in an alleyway, one block from Stark Tower. After memorizing Parker’s schedule, they decided that they should collect Parker after one of his afternoon days at the Tower. A personal investigator had followed Parker for the last three months and concluded that he spent an incredible amount of time in the safety of his home. It was risky to take him right outside of Stark Tower, but it was their best bet.

Stark Industries had promised Peter Parker an internship since he graduated middle school. This internship would only start when Peter began high school but, even so, Peter Parker was the youngest recorded person in history to both be offered an internship and then to become an intern. Stark Industries was known to be exceptionally meticulous when picking their interns, so Fury had been intrigued by the boy.

Next to Parker’s name on Fury’s original list lay a list of the boy’s achievements and a family history. The boy had rotten luck, but he was seriously smart.

At first, that hadn’t been enough for Pierce. But when, to the media’s and their audience’s surprise, Stark announced that he would be taking on a personal intern for the first time, and this intern would be the child prodigy who had been offered an internship at ten years old, Pierce decided he had to have him.

Rumlow couldn’t stand the waiting. It was two days since they had captured Jackson, and he was running out of time. They had been told by Parker’s investigator that the boy only just returned from a trip to Europe, and they weren’t certain that his regular internship schedule would be resumed.

“Incoming…” the driver mumbled, glancing at the screens above his dashboard.

Rumlow signaled to the rest of his team. Two of his men opened the van doors as he and the last man jumped out quietly. They skirted around the van carefully. He signalled for the other two to stay by the van.

Peter Parker wouldn’t be too much of a struggle.

His partner took out a white cloth and doused it in an incapacitating agent. He nodded at Rumlow when it was ready. They stood with their backs against the alleyway building. There was not much space between them and the van, which would help them keep Parker restrained if he put up a fight.

Rumlow waited to jump out at the boy and grab him. It was late at night. They had waited for hours for Peter Parker to leave Stark Tower. Rumlow was incredibly antsy.

He finally heard footsteps. He reached behind him and felt his partner give him the cloth. As soon as the boy came into his line of vision, he stepped out of the alley way and slammed the cloth onto his mouth-

Except the boy was no longer in front of him.

“What the-?”

Rumlow whipped around at the noise. Peter Parker had somehow ducked around him, missing his attack completely. The boy had his brows raised. He was dressed in a graphic t-shirt and jeans; his earphones had fallen out of his ears.

“Who the hell are you?” The boy asked.

Rumlow blinked. He looked at the driver, who’s eyes were wide. How had the boy escaped a highly trained agent?

Parker was stood in a defensive stance, ready for combat. Rumlow recovered quickly and signaled to his partner behind his back.

“You really want to fight me, kid?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?” The boy scoffed. “You just attacked me. Who are you?”

Rumlow saw his partner had walked around the van and was creeping up behind Peter. He smirked as he saw his partner jump forward to grab the kid-

Peter turned with incredible speed and grunted as he kicked the man in the stomach, knocking him so far back Rumlow was sure he saw him catch air.

He shook his head in disbelief. He had studied this kid like crazy. There was no combat training in his past, not even beginner’s karate. There’s no reason he should be able to keep up with trained agents.

Whatever the case was, Rumlow had to act fast. For whatever reason, he was outmatched. He grabbed his gun as his partner hit the ground and held it out, waiting for Peter to face him. He signaled for the rest of the team to come out of the van.

The kid turned around and held his hands up immediately when he saw the gun. “Woah.” He stepped back. “Look, I don’t know what you want- I literally have no money-”

“Shut it, kid” Rumlow growled as the rest of his team each grabbed one of Peter’s arms. The boy glared at them and tried to struggle. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He warned as he aimed the gun at Peter’s feet.

“Ei!”

The boy jumped up just as Rumlow pulled the trigger, missing the bullet. Rumlow looked up in disbelief. _Who is this kid?_ Parker reminded him of… That’s not possible. He surged forward and shoved the cloth in Peter’s face, covering his airways. The boy struggled with incredible strength, almost shaking off the men at his arms. Rumlow held the cloth in place, realizing soon after that the incapacitating agent was only weakening the boy, not knocking him out.

_Impossible_. “We need more!”

Peter kept struggling as the driver of the van jumped out, handing Rumlow another bottle of the same agent. He completely doused the cloth and held it over Parker’s nose and mouth as the kid tried to call out and escape.

Soon enough, the boy was knocked out. He and Rumlow’s partner were moved into the van and they drove to the bunker, keeping the cloth doused and over the kid’s airways.

When they reached the bunker, Rumlow warned the scientists to keep the boy heavily sedated. He stayed as they studied his DNA and smiled when the scientists delivered some extremely interesting news to him.

_Pierce is gonna love this._

Rumlow left as they erased what they were told from Parker’s memory. He was eager to debrief Pierce.

They hadn’t just kidnapped Peter Parker, child prodigy and Tony Stark’s personal intern. They also kidnapped the recently surfaced vigilante: Spiderman.


	5. Mission Report: Harry Potter

** HARRY POTTER  **

Age: 18

Nationality: Citizen of UK

Species: Magical Human

Gender: Male

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Green

Height: 5’9

Contact: Albus Dumbledore

**Status: Acquired.**

  * Suspicious of the government and authority.
  * Explosive temperament.
  * Tactful knowledge and experienced in magical combat. Very resourceful and knowledgeable in the field of Magic.
  * Very Powerful. It is suspected that he has the widest domain of abilities, although they are not yet all documented. Experienced in Magic and an expert in most fields of Magic. Superior knowledge in magical combat and excelled in his schooling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Testing Required.
  * **MEMORY WIPE SUCCESSFUL.**

* * *

One year after Project Delta was approved, Harry Potter destroyed Voldemort, a dark wizard that had threatened the entire population on earth.

Fury wanted Potter on his team after reports reached him of a boy singlehandedly defeating mysterious and dark forces in a tunnel. He only heard the rumours months after it happened as the boy lived in England, in a town called Little Whinging.

Two days after Peter Parker’s kidnapping- which now had Tony Stark ballistic- Alexander Pierce and Brock Rumlow were in Surrey, England, following a note in Fury’s notes about a certain Arabella Fig, who had been involved in the incident.

Pierce knocked on her door now. He seemed unfazed at having just been strongly rebuked by the Dursley family next door. Rumlow offered to persuade them further, but Pierce was convinced that the Dursleys had little to do with Harry Potter. After all, the boy was nowhere to be seen in any of the family pictures hanging on the wall.

So here they stood, outside Ms. Figg’s door, waiting for her to answer. Rumlow usually preferred to complete these missions alone, but Pierce insisted that he join him. The World of Magic was severely secretive and exclusive, and Pierce wanted to make sure the situation was handled with extreme delicacy.

They heard deliberate footsteps. The door opened slowly, revealing someone that was definitely not the middle-aged woman they were expecting.

“I’ve been expecting you.” The man in front of them spoke in a bored, British drawl. He was tall and thin. He looked tired, unshaven, and unimpressed. He held a black cane with a silver top in his hand- apparently only for aesthetic purposes because the man had no use for it; he was middle-aged at most, and was not leaning on the cane for support. His long, white hair was unnaturally sleek, and his expression reminded Rumlow of Hera.

_Great, another self-important jack-a-_

“Have you?” Pierce flashed a white smile at the man. Rumlow stared at the two men and realized that this meeting could go extremely well or very badly. They were both powerful, egotistical, narcissistic politicians. Rumlow was almost intrigued. “And who might you be?”

The man sneered. “That is none of your business, you filthy mugg-”

Rumlow stepped forward threateningly and he stopped. Pierce held out a hand to hold Rumlow back.

“Please,” Pierce smiled professionally. “You say you have been expecting us. I believe we may be interested in the same thing. Let’s talk civilly.”

The man nodded reluctantly, but did not allow them in. “I saw you… _people_ arrive years ago in a crystal ball held in the Department of Mysteries- not that you know what that is” he snarled. “It has been foretold by ancient prophecies, a merging of our worlds.”

Pierce laughed heartily. He was the perfect picture of a politician. “Oh no- no, no. We do not wish to intrude. We know your world wants to remain secret, and we intend to keep it that way. We have only come here for information about-”

“You want Potter, do you not?” The man spat.

Pierce looked taken aback. “Well, yes, we do.”

“I can send him to you.”

Pierce looked at Rumlow. _This is too easy_.

“What do you want in return,” Rumlow asked gruffly.

The man smiled maliciously. “I want him out of the way. I want him gone.”

Pierce smiled again. “Well, we can certainly do that for you.”

The man focused on Pierce again. “Where do you need him?”

“Oh, anywhere in America is fine with us. We wouldn’t want to make things difficult-”

The man thought deeply, mumbling to himself. Rumlow had the impression that he was slightly unhinged. “want him gone… Auror mission… Problems in New York…” His head snapped up. “He’ll be in an airport in New York tomorrow.”

“Which airport in New York?” Rumlow grumbled.

“Well, how many are there in one city?” The man scowled condescendingly.

“Which airline is he flying with?”

The man looked at him, irritated. “He won’t be flying, obviously.”

“How can you be sure he’ll be there?” Pierce asked incredulously.

The man glared at Pierce. “Do not question-”

Rumlow took another step forward and the man flinched, reaching for his cane with his free hand.

“Excellent.” Pierce clapped his hands together. “Oh, and we will need one more thing from you.”

The man looked at them, now suspicious. Pierce laughed. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing too serious. We just need someone from Harry’s past, someone kind- if possible.”

The man sneered. “I can’t just-”

“I understand.” Pierce held up a hand. “I wonder, though, as magicians, can you physically imitate someone who was dear to him? Preferably an adult? We just need the boy to think he has someone to turn to.”

The man seemed hesitant for a moment, then smiled again. “I still have… Yes. There is a way. But I must be the one to imitate the man.”

Pierce nodded seriously. “Very well.”

The men briefly discussed details. The man, who refused to tell them his name, insisted that both Rumlow and Pierce form something called an Unbreakable Vow with him. They were not to speak of the Wizarding World or of this meeting, if they wanted to live. Rumlow had been hesitant, but Pierce urged him to follow through with the bond- the whole deal hinged on it.

After this strange ritual was performed, the men separated, to leave each other’s presence.

* * *

For a wizard, Harry Potter was surprisingly easy to capture.

After their debacle with Parker and with Rumlow still in England, he ordered that his team be doubled to capture the boy. The wizard seemed distracted and was completely oblivious of his being stalked. They snatched him right outside of the airport, so quickly and efficiently that the boy hadn’t even called out.

The DNA test affirmed his identity and the memory wipe had been successful. He was placed in the same cell as Peter Parker. The three boys were being frequently monitored and heavily sedated. Potter’s wand was taken away, as were his belongings.

It was Rumlow’s understanding that no magic could be preformed without the wand, so until after he returned with Rider, he kept it locked away in a high security vault. He would release it soon for testing, but for now, he couldn’t risk something so valuable out in the open.


	6. Mission Report: Alex Rider

** ALEX RIDER **

Age: 15

Nationality: Citizen of UK

Species: Human

Gender: Male

Hair Colour: Fair

Eye Colour: Brown

Height: 5’7

Contact: Alan Blunt

**Status: Acquired.**

  * Suspicious of the government and authority.
  * Calm temperament.
  * Superior intelligence. Extremely knowledgeable in multiple fields, including but not limited to multiple styles of combat.
  * Specialized and highly trained, most familiar in his field- has an impressive portfolio. No magical or super-human abilities. Skilled in multiple styles of combat and physically fit. Ties with MI6 may allow for a transfer of complete analysis regarding his abilities.
  * **MEMORY WIPE SUCCESSFUL.**

* * *

The morning after they left Little Whinging, Pierce and Rumlow visited retired MI6 head operative, Alan Blunt.

The reasons surrounding his retirement were classified. His location was classified. His current occupation, if he had one, was classified.

Pierce had been forced to send him an encrypted message regarding a meeting place, and hope their past dealings were enough to coax this man out of hiding.

“That child is never going to agree to help you.”

Rumlow rolled his eyes. He was in a foul mood, and jet lag had him slightly off his game. He’d only been in England for two days and already had enough of self-righteous idiots with British accents telling him what he couldn’t do.

Pierce merely smiled patiently. It was that exact smile that could so easily amplify Rumlow’s anger; for now, though, he needed Pierce, so he remained stoic and still.

“We don’t think that will be a problem, Mr. Blunt. We simply-”

“Oh, that boy will be a problem, trust me, _Mr. Pierce_.”

Pierce’s eye twitched. He hated being interrupted and undermined, and after his meeting yesterday, Rumlow assumed he’d reached the end of his politeness. Still, he smiled. “I understand that. But- if you please- I only need his current location, and your presence when he wakes. We will take it from there.”

Alan Blunt’s grey skin stretched into a horribly uncharacteristic smile. “The last I heard, he was taken in by the Pleasures, who moved to America after Alex’s recent… excursion.”

Rumlow remembered reading about Alex Rider’s missions. He had an impressive portfolio. Fury had only considered Rider because of MI6’s interest in the boy. Since he was young, they encouraged his uncle to train him and develop his skills. Fury predicted MI6 wanted Rider to become a spy in his twenties. Three years later, Rider had been called upon by the agency and successfully and skillfully completed nine missions for them within a year.

Rumlow was eager to get his hands on the kid.

* * *

This was going to be harder than he thought.

Alex Rider was a highly trained spy. Although he vowed to never accept any missions again, even though he was severely injured after his recent mission in Egypt, the kid was still a spy; and, therefore, was extremely paranoid.

They tried for two days to kidnap Alex Rider. After the first failed attempt, when he’d disappeared while they were stalking him, and the second failed attempt, where they tried to capture him outside his therapist’s office, they decided more extreme measures were necessary.

It was cruel, but Rumlow specialized in extreme measures.

A message was dropped off for Alex. With only a time and place indicated, along with a hint that a certain dead housekeeper may still be alive and seeking him out.

Rumlow knew an intuitive kid like Rider wouldn’t be able to resist. After the boy scouted out the place, which Rumlow made sure looked inconspicuous from the outside, the boy would walk inside, to be greeted by six armed men and a foul-smelling cloth...

* * *

After the checks on Rider were complete, Rumlow debriefed Pierce in his Washington location.

Stood in front of the Secretary of SHIELD now, Rumlow knew the man was agitated. The Avengers had reassembled to look for Peter Parker. The disappearance of Jackson and Potter was bound to present them with endless problems also- once they were discovered missing. Rider’s adoptive family was rich and resourceful, but Rumlow wasn’t worried about them. They weren’t exactly deities, superheroes, or magicians.

Despite this, and the problems a top secret scheme such as Project Delta presented- which they had predicted and had planned against for years since it was proposed- Pierce was still obsessed with the other worlds; the other beings that hid in the unknown.

“Sir. Maybe it isn’t worth looking for more worlds. With the team we have now- if the Winter Soldier Program works, we won’t need more.”

Alexander Pierce turned to look at his right-hand man.

Pierce knew Brock Rumlow had a propensity for violence. He had been the key to restraining and domesticating Barnes, through any means necessary. Pierce respected the man- but Rumlow had never been able to see the bigger picture. The man was a soldier. He followed orders, he questioned nothing. That was exactly what Pierce needed, but his inability to see into the future was tiresome.

Pierce sighed. “I don’t just want a team, Rumlow.” He walked to his liquor stand and poured himself a glass of whiskey. “There are more worlds out there, I know it.” Another pause. He walked back to the fireplace, looking into the fire, admiring the destruction something so natural and simple could cause. “Our world is weak. We thought we knew about our place in the universe after Thor came to Earth. We know nothing.”

He turned to Rumlow, who was standing completely still. “The Battle of Manhattan happened under our noses. _Greek gods and goddesses_ were waging war just _one year _after the Avengers were fighting Loki four years ago. Only _months_ before that, a dark wizard almost conquered England and threatened non-magic existence. _Magic_, Rumlow. It’s all happening _now_.”

Pierce shook his head, turning back to the fire. He thought he knew control. He thought, after HYDRA’s involvement in SHIELD, that he had peace at his fingertips. Now, after discovering this world was infected with so many other existences, so many other powers, he was determined to make them his. Alexander Pierce would find these worlds and he would gain control over them.

And he knew exactly how to do it.

The Winter Soldier Program had been a success. The Asset had failed, yes, but Pierce’s scientists soon discovered that had Barnes not met Steve Rogers, the Asset would still be fully operational. They had taken his memories and forced him into submission, but Barnes’ brain was already developed. At his age, his memories were cemented. Therefore, Pierce was convinced that he needed soldiers under the age of twenty-five. He would test them, brainwash and break them, then inject them with the serum to restart the Winter Soldier Program anew. This team would be unstoppable.

Project Delta was off to a promising start already. After researching their powers and abilities, Pierce knew he would soon have a formidable team of soldiers. Their memories were all selectively wiped- the only thing they could remember was what Pierce deemed necessary. He knew it could take time, but after their success with Barnes, he was confident Project Delta would thrive.

_Besides,_ Pierce reminded himself, _the worlds I cannot control, I will eliminate. _Pierce turned back to Rumlow. “What’s the status on the DNA samples?”

“They found a gene related to what they think may enable magic in a human body. They are still researching it, but are confident that this could mean the wizarding world is vulnerable to genocide by biological warfare.”

Pierce hummed, pleased. “And the demigod?”

“Jackson’s DNA is still being researched, but it seems as though the gods and goddesses don’t have any DNA at all. The same approach won’t work.”

“In that case, focus half the researchers on Fury’s theory about the Greeks’ central force. We need to find a vulnerability- I want them wiped out.”

Rumlow nodded curtly and left Pierce to his thoughts. The plan was moving ahead faster than he anticipated; he may have to start the Winter Soldier Program a week ahead of schedule.

_The faster, the better_.

The bunker was secured and completely off the grid, and his team would soon be under complete command of him, but Pierce knew he had to act quickly. The Avengers were in pursuit of them- posing as their only immediate threat. As unorganized, untrained, and unexperienced as a team they were, the Avengers were a force to be reckoned with. If he knew anything about Tony Stark, it was that the man does not give up. He would have to make sure that Parker and the rest of the team were completely his before he trusted them to take on the Avengers themselves. Alexander Pierce had high expectations for his team.

Of course, without Nick Fury, collecting the team had been a challenge. Fury had gotten permission to acquire the subjects, but his plan with them had been similar to that of the Avengers: a union of worlds and skills. He had intended to approach the boys and propose Project Delta to them individually, but Pierce knew that wouldn’t have worked. Pierce wanted more. After starting the Avengers Initiative, Fury struggled to keep the team together for years. Now, with the Avengers torn apart after their battle in Germany and loosely stitched together again, Fury was more occupied than ever, and Alexander Pierce knew the world’s eyes were elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Pierce needed to get his hands on Fury’s original, full list of subjects…

Project Delta is just the beginning.


	7. Percy Jackson

Percy was in serious trouble. He wasn’t quite sure _how_ he happened to wake up in a questioning room at a police station in New York City, but he did know that he asked for a glass of water about an hour ago and he was still so thirsty.

He had been stopped by the police four times already since he woke up three days ago. Ever since then, Percy realized that he doesn’t have any memory of anything before he woke up, except that he’s slowly been making his way to San Francisco.

Why? He couldn’t tell you.

He figured he probably should be a little more freaked out about this whole I-almost-forgot-my-name-for-a-minute-there thing, but the only thing keeping him sane is the fact that he knows where he’s going- so he’s been able to procrastinate on freaking out.

There’s just one problem. No, there are a lot of problems, but this is the only one Percy has any control over: he knows he wants to go to San Francisco, but he has no way of getting there. He has no money. Any begging he does is for food, and no one wants to accept a smelly, homeless, and dangerous looking, hitchhiking teenager into their car. So yeah, Percy has a problem.

He had woken up just off the coast of Long Island, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, a faded orange t-shirt, and a necklace of clay beads. And Riptide, of course. That sword was probably the only reason he had managed to stay alive for this long.

He didn’t remember fully what he was, but from what he pulled together from everything the monsters always word-vomited about (those guys never stop talking), he is the son of a Greek god. A powerful one too, according to this clingily Lamia that refuses to stay dead for long. Percy nicknamed her Fang, which she didn’t appreciate, but she’s the one who told him about his strong scent. Although at first, he had been slightly offended, he figured it was true, because she, and a horde of other, angrier monsters, had followed him from Long Island. He also figured his questionable parentage was what helped him swim across the East River to Seaport, after he gave up trying to sneak onto public transit.

Now Percy was in New York City, waiting on a cup of water and ready to begin his whole I-don’t-remember spiel. Every time he had been stopped by the police, they seemed to take it as a personal offence that he didn’t have any IDs on him- not even a passport- and that his fingerprints didn’t show up in their records. They always had been forced to let him go, and although it stopped his progress to San Francisco, Percy always appreciated a night under shelter and in a secured room. It was cozy.

The thought of sleep made Percy’s head heavy, and seconds later, he passed out.

_Two agents watched as the boy fell asleep. He looked homeless, he was malnourished, and he was exhausted, but the boy still made them feel uneasy. He held himself in a way that reminded them both of their days in the army. They had come across soldiers who fought like they knew they had the best weapon on the battlefield. Then there were soldiers who fought like they _were_ the best weapon on the battlefield. And this boy, this ragged teenager, held himself with the ease of someone who could outdo both these types of soldiers. _

_“Any weapons on him?” One of them asked. She already knew the answer, but they had to go through the checklist anyway. _

_“No ma’am, all he has on him are his clothes and a pen. He’s missing a shoe.”_

_“Are you sure it’s him?”_

_The second agent shrugged. “We have footage of him swimming across the East River faster than the cars above him on the Brooklyn Bridge,” she said, “Yeah, we think it’s him.” _

_They looked at the boy again. Neither of them knew what this boy was, nor will they find out. They had just been given instructions to collect him, that he should be making his way to them, and that he would have no recollection of his past. Whatever S.H.I.E.L.D wanted with him; it was classified. Whatever that meant for the boy, in these two agents’ experience it meant that it was extremely unlikely that they would ever see him again._

\---

Percy woke to the sound of thumping. He had been ignoring it for while, trying to fall back to sleep, until last night’s events caught up to him.

He had been in a chair, in a room, at the police station. He was sure of it. So where was he now?

He groaned and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t know who he was, where he belonged, and what he was doing before he woke up four days ago. The harder he thought about how he must’ve had a life before then, the more tired he got. He just wanted a big meal, preferably something greasy, and a full night of sleep. From his experience though, it seemed that whatever gods he was related to were against that idea.

He opened his eyes to a plain room, in which he was slumped up against a wall on the floor. There were no windows, no furniture, no decorations. The walls were black, and the single bulb in the ceiling cast an ominous glare into the room.

Percy closed his eyes again. This room did not look like good news. Maybe if he could just fall back to sleep…

The thumping was back. Percy glared in its direction, only to find a boy slowly make his way around the room, gently hitting every inch of the walls with the palm of him hand.

“Hey,” Percy sat up. “Don’t get me wrong, you’ve got a pretty sick beat going- but is there anyway you could keep it down? A guy’s got to sleep.”

The boy paused for a moment, to which Percy mumbled a “thanks”. He had barely closed his eyes when the thumping started up again. Too tired to argue, Percy just sighed and watched the boy. When the boy neared him, Percy moved to allow him to finish his inspection, determined to help it along to its end. Once the boy finished his inspection, he sat against the wall opposite Percy, and they seized each other up.

The boy was probably fourteen or fifteen. He wore a black shirt, a wooden bead necklace, and a bomber jacket with jeans. He had light brown hair and calculating brown eyes. The expression on his face sent a jolt down Percy’s spine. He suddenly felt homesick.

“You slept for ages.” The boy observed. He spoke in a British accent, and Percy had to suppress the urge to mock the accent.

“How long have you been here?”

The boy shrugged. “Not sure. I woke up about five hours ago. I’ve been doing checks.” He paused, then continued with a smirk. “You leave your mouth wide open when you sleep.”

Percy raised his eyebrows. “You watched me sleep?”

The boy still looked bored, but stood up and quickly changed the subject. Percy considered that a win. “I’m Alex Rider.”

“Percy Jackson. Any idea why you’re here?”

Alex shook his head. “I’m in New York to visit a family friend. They stopped me at the airport- something wrong with my passport, apparently.” Alex looked him up and down. “What about you?”

Percy shrugged. “No idea. I woke up four days ago by Long Island and ended up here. I don’t remember anything.”

Alex froze for a moment, then started walking around the room as if he was just making small talk. “What do you mean you don’t remember. Like you have amnesia or something?”

“I guess so,” Percy replied. Alex grunted. “Why?”

The younger boy looked him in the eyes and sat down opposite him again. “It’s not just a coincidence then. I don’t remember anything from four days ago either.”

“You’re kidding?” Percy raised his eyebrow. For being so young, this kid had a knack for keeping his cool- although Percy could tell Alex was smart. He had an aura of confidence about him, as if nothing could totally throw him off.

“No,” Alex glared at the door. “I guess we’re both part of some kind of plan”

Percy hummed in agreement and looked at the ceiling. After a moment, he said. “All I wanted is a cheeseburger.”

Alex snorted. “I can try to put in a request- if that door ever opens”

Percy just smiled at the ceiling, and slowly closed his eyes.

He almost fell asleep again when his stomach grumbled. His tongue suddenly felt thick and dry. He looked to the door on his left. He could barely see the outline of the door but saw that it was made of a thick metal. He assumed it would be enforced with some kind of security system because it had no handle. He made note to check it out later. For now, all he could think about was: if he made a big enough fuss, would they send in some food?

Percy was pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of a faint beeping. He looked at Alex and they both scrambled to stand up. The door slid open with barely any noise, and through the door was an armed guard, stone faced and large. He nodded at Alex. “Follow me.”

Alex didn’t move. “Where are we going?”

The guard turned around. “Don’t ask questions.”

“Hey!” Percy called after him. “What’s going on?”

The guard didn’t turn back around, but they both caught him gently resting his hand on his pistol. The gesture said _I wasn’t going to use it, but I will_.

Alex looked at Percy who met his eyes. While the guard seemed cold and Percy didn’t like sending the younger boy away by himself, the guard had made it clear that Alex didn’t have an option. Percy nodded at Alex and they came to an agreement; his instinct told him to comply, for now.

Alex tensely followed the guard, the door shifted shut, and Percy was alone once more, wondering what on earth was going on.

This whole situation was too weird. Who is Alex? Is he also a son of a Greek god? He didn’t seem like it, but Percy couldn’t know for sure. Why were they both here? What was going to happen to them? Where were they?

Percy couldn’t think straight. The last time he’d eaten anything was two days ago, when an obviously drunk college student had bet him ten dollars for an arm wrestle. He’d walked into the nearest McDonalds and bought as much as he could and inhaled the whole thing outside on the sidewalk. His stomach growled and clenched painfully. He suddenly realized he hadn’t even thought of escaping wherever he was. He scolded himself and looked around the room.

There were no visible cameras. The door was thick, and clearly operated by a keypad of some sort. The entrance itself was narrow, and Percy hadn’t been able to see past the guard. Where there more guards? Did the door lead to a hallway? He made a mental note to ask Alex what he had seen on the other side- if he ever saw the boy again.

Alex also lost his memory four days ago. That’s weird, and not a coincidence. Had Alex been sleeping in the streets since, making his way to San Francisco? Percy hoped not. The boy was a lot younger than him and didn’t look like he had a weapon on him. But Alex didn’t look like he’d spent the last four days homeless and hungry. His clothes were clean, and he looked healthy and rested. If Percy didn’t know any better, he would’ve assumed Alex had been a rich tourist or something. And his accent. It was definitely British, but Percy couldn’t place British accents for the life of him. He’d never been to England- he’d never needed to visit.

Percy thought back to when he woke up, Alex was inspecting the walls. Who does that? It’s smart, but how did he know to do that? Maybe he was some kind of boy scout. Percy shifted in his position and suddenly caught a whiff of himself, grimacing. No wonder Alex had stayed to the other side of the room…

Percy had been alone for fifteen minutes until the door slid open again. Alex was shoved through, looking unharmed but confused.

“What happened?” Percy walked over to the boy, looking him up and down. The door hadn’t closed yet.

“Nothing…” Alex looked up at him, “Just gave me food.”

“Did you eat it?”

“Yeah… I had to. It wasn’t poisoned” Alex looked deep in thought.

The guard walked back through the door, this time with two masked soldiers. He shoved Alex further into the room. Alex stumbled, then straightened up, looking like he was ready to take them on. “Hey!”

The masked soldiers stepped forward, one of the holding a collar of some sort. Percy thought is was meant for Alex, and stepped between them, his back to Alex, ready about to ask them what the collar was for, when they clasped it shut onto his own neck.

Percy recoiled from them. “What the-?”

He stumbled, suddenly exhausted. Alex steadied him from behind.

“What the hell is that?” Alex raised his voice.

Percy lifted his hands to his neck, only to have them forcefully removed from the collar by the soldiers. They each grabbed one of his shoulders and marched him out of the room. It took Percy all his strength to stop dragging his feet behind him.

“What-?” He whispered.

The guard with the pistol looked him up and down, a smirk on his face. “Let’s go,” he said to the soldiers. “And you,” the guard snarled, looking behind Percy at Alex. “Don’t do anything stupid. We’ll know.”

Percy just heard Alex ask what they were going to do when the younger boy was drowned out by the shifting of the door. He tried not to hang his head while they walked, to catch a glimpse of where they were, but he was so tired. His footsteps overshadowed any other sounds as they walked through hallway after hallway, the cold concrete floor never changing.

It only took five turns to get to their destination, and when Percy looked up, he saw a door with a frosted window and immediately thought of a locker room shower. Naturally, the thought that followed was _oh no_…

The door was opened, and Percy was pushed in.

The floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything was covered in white tiles. The light reflected off them so harshly, Percy had to squint to get used to the room. Ten showers stood next to each other along one wall, with no dividing walls or doors. The room smelled harshly of bleach. Percy shook his head. _I am _not _doing this _he thought, slowly stepping backwards.

A door opened on the far side of the room, and the sounds that followed echoed faintly.

“Ei! I got it. I’m walking. No need to-” a boy around Alex’s age stumbled through the door. He had curly brown hair and brown, puppy-dog eyes. He looked lean and fit, but he carried himself like an insecure teenager- something Percy had noticed Alex did not do. The boy glared reproachfully at the two soldiers behind him. That is, until he noticed the room, and boy, did his eyes widen.

“No.” His body was stiff, and his eyes were clenched shut. “No, no, no this is not happening.”

Percy noticed the boy had a collar around his neck, just like his.

“Hey,” Percy called out. He felt for the kid. He looked like he was living his worst nightmare, which, for a young teenager, showering in front of strangers probably is. The boy’s head snapped up. It was the first time he had noticed Percy, and his eyes were wild. “I know, this is weird. Let’s just get this over with.”

The boys were roughly shoved from behind, and when Percy turned around to introduce the soldiers to some colourful new words, he noticed the guards were gone, but the soldiers were still there, with their backs turned to the boys.

The kid stood close to Percy. “Are we… supposed to…?” he asked, gesturing to the shower heads.

Percy sighed. “I have a feeling this isn’t the weirdest thing I’ve ever done.” Percy combed a hand through his hair. “Not that I would know.”

The kid’s eyes widened. “You can’t remember either? Do you have amnesia too? From about four days ago? I thought it was just me and Harry. How many more are there? Are you by yourself? Who are you? I’m Peter, by the way… Pe- Parker”

Percy raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t sure where to start. “Uh- hi. I’m-”

There was shuffling behind them. “Keep it moving!”

Percy turned back to the showers. While this situation was weird and awkward and he hated it, he could really use a shower. He had been dreaming about one since he climbed out of the East River. “My name’s Percy Jackson,” he whispered. “I can’t remember anything either, and I think there are four of us.”

Percy took off his shoes and socks, throwing them into the corner of the room. Peter followed suit by neatly placing the shoes next to each other where he stood. “Woah- this is so weird. Why are we here?” Percy shrugged. Peter took his sweater off, then the shirt underneath. “Are you a wizard too?”

“What?” Percy looked at the kid, then quickly looked away after he realized that the kid was still taking his clothes off, that they were about to shower in the same room, and that he probably shouldn’t watch him strip. Percy cringed.

_Maybe I’ll take another dip in the East River instead._

Once Percy was ready for the shower, he picked the shower head furthest away from the soldiers. They gave him the creeps with their masks. He hated the idea of being naked and showering in a room of four soldiers, and for a moment he considered annoying them into leaving. He decided against it. He was tired, and he’d rather them facing the wall than turning around to confront him.

Peter chose the shower head two slots away from Percy, for which he was grateful, even though the kid looked like he was bursting with questions.

Percy turned on the shower, and for a moment all he heard was the sound of water hitting the tiles. He waited for the water to heat up high enough to lose any trace of the East River.

“Percy?”

It was so faint; Percy almost didn’t hear it. He opened his eyes to see Peter looking at the tiles on the floor. He let his eyelids fall again. The water on his body felt amazing.

“What do they want with us?”

Percy sighed. “I don’t know, buddy.” He let the water fall over his hair. “Whatever it is, it isn’t good.”

“TWO MINUTES LEFT! AND NO TALKING!”

Two pale bars of soap were thrown at the boys, who barely caught them. They didn’t speak after that, both lost in their thoughts and the strong smell of artificial lemon.


	8. Peter Parker

Peter liked Percy. He was usually scared of older people, but Percy was cool and didn’t sneer at him when he talked too much, like the guards did. He also had some really cool scars that Peter knew he shouldn’t ask him about, but he really wanted to.

After they were forced to shower- although Peter felt pretty grateful for it, he had been in those clothes for days- Peter was given a towel to dry off with, but Percy was taken into another room to be ‘blow-dried’, which Peter found weird.

He dried himself and put his clothes back on as fast as he could. The guards seemed to be getting antsy and he didn’t want to make them angry, not until he knew what they were keeping him for. He thought of the collar they had put around his neck.

It was made of vibranium, that much he knew, and seemed to reduce the enhancements of any given wearer. He wondered how it worked and itched to have a look at it. How does a mechanism like that even work on someone who’s powers are genetically engrained?

When he stood up again from tying his shoes, Peter’s stomach hurt so much, he almost burped from the strength with which it growled. He wasn’t sure about all his powers yet, but a fast metabolism had to be one of them- he didn’t know how that would be useful, though.

Peter knew he needed food but didn’t want to ask for it. Maybe they would get him some dinner after he was done. They had let Harry eat a little while ago.

One of the guards grunted after they noticed he was finished putting on his clothes and he was escorted out of the showers. Peter hated when they held his arms like that. It made him nervous, like he was in trouble, or about to be.

They walked through the doors and Peter was surprised to see Percy again. “Hey Percy!”

Percy looked at him and smiled, although he looked slightly annoyed. His hair looked windblown, and he had been given new clothes, all fitting, all black. He looked like a spy.

“Hey buddy,” Percy greeted. There was a beat of silence and Peter’s stomach churned loudly. Percy glared at the guards. “Can the kid get some food? He’s obviously starving. Neither of us have eaten in days.”

The main guard shrugged. “Not my problem. You two don’t get food until we get the ‘okay’ from the boss.”

“Why not?” Peter asked, at the same time that Percy asked, “Who’s the boss?”

The guard just smirked and held his fingers up to his left ear, as if listening to someone. He stood still for a moment, and then mumbled “okay, opening now- standby.”

Peter wondered what kind of technology he was using. He hadn’t even noticed it and hadn’t been able to even hear the buzzing of the other side of the line. Peter assumed it was designed this way to keep people like him and the other boys in the dark.

The main guard nodded at the masked guards holding Peter and Percy, and they all started moving down the hallway they were in, away from their rooms. It was a slim hallway, so Peter and his guards were a couple of steps ahead of Percy and his guards. Peter’s hands were sweating. He looked behind him at Percy, who gave him a reassuring smile. He seemed so relaxed. Peter wondered why he was so okay with all of this.

A couple more steps had them next to a door to their right, with a complex security system attached to the wall next to it. They all stopped. It required the main guard’s pin, fingerprint, and eyeball scan to be opened, which Peter thought was a little extreme. He wondered what was at the other side.

The door slid open, revealing two masked guards, one holding a boy Peter’s age with a cool jacket and- “Harry!”

Harry grinned at him. He still looked tired. He had been pretty grouchy when he first woke up, and had a hard time getting used to being stuck in a small room. Peter found out that Harry is severely claustrophobic and had tried to make him more comfortable by chatting to him. Peter liked Harry; he was a wizard.

The other boy nodded behind Peter at Percy, and the four of them were once again pushed along the narrow hallway. Peter heard the new boy ask Percy what had happened in a British accent, like Harry’s, and Percy just replied, “don’t ask.”

They walked to the end of the hallway, where they were met with an uncharacteristically large door made of oak. The main guard knocked and immediately entered.

The boys were lined up horizontally outside the room, which made Peter suddenly feel self-conscious. He felt like he was being put on display, like he was about to be picked last by a school captain for a game of softball. Percy and Harry stood to either side of him, and while his proximity with them gave him some comfort, their differing stances as the heavy door was opened made him unsure of how to act. Harry was extremely still, anxious to meet whoever was behind the door. Percy looked bored and antsy.

Either way, they both looked like they wanted to get this over with.

The room on the other side of the door was so out of place in contrast to the forgettable, endless steel hallway behind them, interrupted only with steel doors and steel keypads. It looked like an extravagant hotel lounge room. Four deep red recliners and an expensive looking coffee table filled the space in the middle of the large room, adorned with a wall of books, a fireplace, a small silver table with various alcohols glistening on top of it. The room was warmly lit, and Peter was thankful for that, because the hallway lights where giving him a headache he didn’t know he was developing.

“Boys!”

Peter turned his attention back to the recliners. There was an odd selection of people occupying them.

One of the chairs seated a beautiful, haughty faced lady in a deep blue evening dress. Her legs were crossed, and her back was straight. She scrutinized the boys, and Peter shrunk when her eyes traveled over him, uninterested. Finally, she found who she was looking for. Here eyes narrowed when she saw Percy, who didn’t seem to recognize her like she recognized him, but he glared back, nevertheless.

Another chair was occupied by a weirdly dressed old man, with a kind, intelligent face. His beard and his hair were both long, and he was wearing a purple cloak adorned with various symbols in golden thread. His eyes sparkled as he looked over the boys, and he seemed to be able to look right through each of them. Peter, however, didn’t feel uncomfortable under his gaze, unlike the lady’s. He felt at ease and return the smile when the old man studied his face.

The man occupying the third chair seemed unbelievably bored and uninterested. He barely glanced at the boys and his fingers were tapping his armchair impatiently. He wore a grey suit which matched the rest of his appearance well, and he looked like what Peter imagined any generic accountant would look like.

Finally, Peter lifted his eyes again to the man who addressed them. _He must be some sort of politician_, Peter thought. He seemed to be the one in charge and he wore an expensive suit and a bright smile, all of which made the hair on the back of Peter’s neck rise.

“Come on in!” The man standing exclaimed.

The guard encouraged them to step forward using the butt of their guns on their backs. Peter heard Percy inhale sharply, and the new boy mumble “watch it”.

The man with the expensive suit looked as if he was about to start speaking again. He gave them another big smile and began: “How were your trips-”

“Why are we here?” The new boy drawled. The man’s smiled vanished, and Peter saw the man in the grey suit smile to himself, tapping the armchair faster now.

The politician-man didn’t look like he was used to being interrupted, and, though he seemed annoyed, flashed another big smile. “My name is Alexander Peirce.” He turned and pointed to the old man, “This is Albus Dumbledore, this lovely lady here is Hera,” the lady, Hera, scowled at him, which went ignored by Pierce, “and lastly, this is Alan Blunt.”

Each of these people have put each of you boys forward for what we are about to propose. We know you; you don’t know us. Alex Rider,” Pierce faced the new boy. “You were put forward by Alan Blunt.”

Alan Blunt continued to stare off into space. Alex scoffed and mumbled, “thanks for that, by the way.”

“Percy Jackson, you were put forward by Hera here.”

Hera smiled maliciously at Percy, who raised his eyebrow at her. “I had to get the nutty one, didn’t I?” He smirked as Hera grit her teeth and seethed.

“Peter Parker, you were my candidate.” Pierce smiled at Peter, and Peter felt his whole spine shiver.

“And Harry Potter, meet your representative, Albus Dumbledore.”

Harry just looked confused as Mr. Dumbledore smiled fondly at him. “How are you feeling, Harry?” the latter asked, softly.

“Uh-”

“Our worlds as we know them have reached an almost irreversible level of disorder, of chaos.” Pierce continued. Peter wondered which worlds he was taking about, and if this had anything to do with the rest of the nine realms. “After S.H.I.E.L.D’s discovery of these worlds, and the nature of our coexistence on Earth, we knew an order had to be established between these worlds, and possibly other, still hidden existences, if we were ever to reach a level of peace again.” Pierce looked around, impressively, as he let that sink in. He took a breath to start again.

“That sounds great, really,” Alex interrupted again making Pierce ‘s eyes flashed dangerously. Harry stifled a snort, and Peter couldn’t help but wish that Alex would just be quiet before this became unfriendly really fast. “A-star speech. Now would you mind telling us what on earth is going on and what the hell this talk about the different worlds is?”

“Quiet, mortal” the lady named Hera commanded. She stood up slowly and walked up to Alex, who held her gaze with a satisfied look on his face but fell quiet. She gazed down at him as if he were an unsatisfactory meal at a 5-star hotel.

Peter held his breath.

“You should be honoured to even be privy to this information. Usually I would have mortals like you incinerated-”

“Hades, lady. You brought us here.”

Hades?

Hera was in front of Percy in an instant, who seemed pretty relaxed considering she looked ready to do that whole incineration thing she was talking about. Peter got the feeling Percy was pushing her to get her attention off Alex. He also got the feeling Hera had been waiting for an excuse to get Percy in her hands.

“Finally,” Hera smiled evilly. “No one will know what happened, you’re powerless, and soon you’ll learn some respect…” she said as she reached for Percy’s collared neck.

“Hey-” Peter reproached as Harry yelled “Lady-!”

Mr. Dumbledore got to his feet, anger in his eyes, and Mr. Blunt looked at the scene, mildly entertained.

Thunder rumbled the room, which was odd, as Peter was pretty sure they were underground. At the sound, Hera froze. She looked at Percy maliciously, like she would like nothing else but to tear him apart. “I’ve been gone for too long.” She muttered. Then she literally disappeared in a haze of blinding light, right in front of them.

Peter’s mouth dropped open. “Did that just-?”

Mr. Dumbledore still looked furious. He pulled Pierce aside and whispered furiously to him while Mr. Blunt signed, got up, and brushed off his grey pants.

“Percy, are you okay?” Peter asked.

Percy smiled, seemingly unfazed. “Yeah buddy. I kind of get the feeling she says that a lot.”

Harry scoffed. “She’s a right nutter that one.”

Peter saw Alex lean close to Percy, whispering “I had it handled.”

“Who said you didn’t?” Percy smirked. Alex hummed in agreement.

Peter only caught the tail-end of what the men were whispering about but heard Mr. Dumbledore angrily mutter “not comply if these boys are in any kind of danger. See to it that she doesn’t see them again.”

And with that, Mr. Dumbledore walked over to the fireplace, searched his cloak for a leather pouch that he then brought out, and walked into the fireplace.

Peter stepped forward. “Sir, you’re in-”

Mr. Dumbledore took the contents of the pouch and threw it to the ground, smiling at Peter as he became engulfed in a green flame that died down instantly, revealing an empty fireplace.

Peter stepped back in line, eyes wide and staring at the fireplace. He looked around and saw Percy and Alex looking as shocked as he felt.

“I’ll never get used to that.” Pierce mumbled, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry.” Harry mumbled, eyebrows furrowed and looking into the fireplace longingly. The boys looked at him. “It’s how they get around.” The boys looked at the fireplace, still in shock.

“Well,” Mr. Blunt broke the boys out of their trance. “It looks like this meeting is adjourned.” He drawled. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

Pierce nodded at the man as he walked by. After the previous exits, Mr. Blunt’s footsteps on the wooden floor seemed to echo as the man walked slowly- not in a hurry, but also not welcome to interruption. Peter flinched as the door shut behind him.

After a brief silence Harry shuffled beside him. “Erm, so-”

“Change of plan.” Pierce announced. The atmosphere of the room changed immediately. He turned to face them, smiling again with a smile that made Peter shiver. The smile was no longer welcoming, but more predatory. He looked glad to finally have the boys alone and in his grasp. Peter almost wished the other adults, except the lady, would come back.

“We get to go home?” Peter suggested, hopeful.

“No,” Pierce replied harshly, his eyes stone cold as they bored into Peter. “You no longer have a choice. Whether you like it or not, you four are now part of Project Delta. You will all be trained to work as a team and separately. You will work for me-“

“Hold on-” Harry started.

“- you will be assigned missions by me-”

“Not gonna ha-” Percy glared.

“-and there will be no questions or objections.” Pierce smiled at them. “You will all do as I say, or you will be forced to. We will not hesitate to use force to bend you into submission and you will not be able to contact anyone outside these facilities. You will answer to me, and only to me.”

Peter frowned. “What about the other worlds and our representatives? What if we want to-”

“I’m your representative, Peter.” Pierce smirked maliciously down at him. Peter glared stonily at him, hiding his clammy hands. “As for the rest of you,” Pierce regarded them coldly. “We only needed your representative’s permission to hand you over,” he emphasized the last three words. “Now that we have you, you won’t be seeing them again, unless I want you to. You’re mine now.”

Alex snorted, “So much for peace between the worlds.”

“Oh, don’t be mistaken.” Pierce mused. “There will be peace. But it will be my peace. We already have S.H.I.E.L.D. Soon we’ll have your MI6. With the Avengers running around, we have perfect cover, and while the world is focused on what they are saving, they won’t see what we are destroying.”

“Buddy,” Percy sneered at him. “If you think there’s any version of this where we help you, you’re about to regret bringing us all here.”

Pierce gracefully picked his way to Percy. Confidence oozed off him, he was completely at ease as he faced the taller, collared boy. “Percy Jackson.” He pronounced the name slowly. “They told me you have a problem with authority and would _probably_ give us a hard time. That’s fine. I’ve done this before. I don’t think it’ll take me long at all to break all of you.”

“You’re bloody insane, you know that? If you think we’re gonna listen to the likes of you.” Harry snarled.

Pierce laughed. “You boys don’t get it, do you? I’ve got you- you’re all mine. You don’t even remember anything, only what I want you to remember. I am in complete control. You ever want to see your families again? You listen to me. You ever want to eat, drink, sleep again? You do as I say. You ever want to see the light of day again?” Pierce stepped forward to Peter, who hardened his glare. “You will become mine. No one’s coming to save you. None of your friends know where you are. Hell, not even the Avengers themselves will know where to look.” Pierce smiled knowingly, inches from Peter’s face.

“Get off” Harry growled as Percy pulled Peter back by his shoulder.

His smile didn’t waver. Pierce looked between Harry, Peter, and Percy and his faced changed, something dark past over it. “I see…”

Peter’s arms stiffened with goosebumps.

Pierce went to the coffee table and felt underneath it. For a moment, Alex inhaled sharply, only relaxing when Pierce straightened again, empty handed.

The doors opened behind them and guards spilled in. Each boy was grabbed roughly by two guards, Peter and Percy once again escorted with two extra guards each, one in front of them and one behind them. The men looked to Pierce.

“I’m done with them for today.” Pierce said, facing the fireplace. “Switch the order. I want them placed in order B. 2nd division goes straight to the dining hall.”

“And the 1st division, sir?”

Pierce turned, looking at Peter and Percy icily. “Straight to their cell.”

Percy growled. “Hey! The kid needs food. What are you gonna to, starve us?”

The guard ahead of Percy lashed out and hit him in the stomach. The rest of the boys were held tightly as they protested. Percy doubled over and coughed. “How’s that for dinner, boy? Want to go for seconds?”

Percy straightened out. “Now that you mention it-”

The guard snarled and drew back his hand for another hit.

“Enough.” Pierce looked on, bored. “Save it for outside my office.”

The guards pushed the boys out of the office, not slowing down for their stumbles as the were hurried out.

“Percy, you alright?” Alex asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the boy behind him.

Peter looked up and tried to see Percy over the guards. They were all taller that him, and he couldn’t see beyond the guard in front of him. He heard another hit, and Percy grunting painfully. “Percy!” Peter called, then inhaled painfully when the guards tightened their hold on his arms.

“Hey-!” Peter heard Harry shout.

“He won’t be if you don’t shut up soon” the guard that had hit Percy grumbled.

Percy snorted and mumbled: “take off the collar, tough guy, and we’ll see-”

Peter heard the increasingly distinct sound of Percy being hit again.

“Percy?”

“I’m good” Percy coughed.

They had reached a clearing, and all stopped. There was a door with another keypad to their left and a hallway in front of them and to their right. One of the guards activated the keypad and opened the door. Peter could briefly smell food through the crack in the door, and his stomach growled again.

“They have 5 minutes.”

The guards holding Harry and Alex immediately separated from the group and disappeared though the door, despite various complaints from the two boys. The door closed behind them with a resounding clang.

Percy and Peter continued on until they were met with the familiar sight of the showers. Peter shuddered walking by it, and soon they were stopped outside another heavily guarded door. The door was opened, and Peter realized it was the thick door to the cell he had first woken up in.

Both boys were shoved inside. Peter tripped and fell to the ground, and Percy held out a hand to help him up.

“Sleep tight!” One of the guards called out. Peter heard laughter over the sound of the thick door closing.

Peter tried to hide the sound of his hungry stomach. Percy glared at them. “Bunch of assh-”

The sound of the heavy lock on the thick door willed them to silence.


	9. Harry Potter

Harry sat beside the door, facing into the room. He tried to convince himself that the room was big enough, or that he could walk out at any moment, but it was no use. He was sweaty and agitated; and he wasn’t being good company to the younger boy sharing the room with him.

“Alex, right?” He asked, taking deep, slow breaths and closing his eyes. If he couldn’t see the room, it seemed at least a little bigger.

“That’s right.” He heard the boy answer. There was silence. Then, “East London.”

Harry hummed. “Surrey.”

“Claustrophobic?”

“Apparently.”

“What do you think’s next?”

Harry took in another deep breath. He tried not to think about how he couldn’t leave the room even if he wanted to. He wasn’t thirsty, they had just eaten, but even if he wanted a drink, he was at the mercy of the guards. That thought alone made his tongue dry and feel suddenly large in his mouth. He licked his lips.

“Er- honestly, I’ve no idea. I just hope we get out of here soon before I get a banging headache.”

Harry’s eyes were still closed, but the silence that fell between the boys wasn’t uncomfortable, nor was it entirely comfortable. They didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter, but Harry would much rather have a friend sharing this small room with him, rather than a stranger. He kept telling himself he ought to get familiar with the guy, but he was struggling to keep his breathing in control as it is.

The silence stretched on, and Harry realized Alex had no intention of breaking it. The guy was young, like Peter; but he was different.

When Harry had first woken up in the room, Peter was still been asleep. He realized first that his wand was missing- making Harry’s heart stop. He took one look around room and rushed for the door, completely unaware of Peter lying on the floor. He tried the door and found it impossible to open, and the more he tried, the more slippery his hands became. His chest tightened painfully. His heart raced. Harry reached up and grabbed his chest, willing himself to breathe, to speak. All that escaped his mouth was a whimper.

When he had heard shuffling behind him, he whipped around. Now he knows it was Peter, awakened by his struggle for control. The younger boy stood up and looked around groggily. His eyes set on Harry, who was slowly lowering himself onto his knees.

“I can’t- my wand. Stuck. I need my wand. I need to get out _now._”

Harry was grateful now for Peter’s quick thinking. He recognized Harry’s struggle and helped him into deep breaths with soothing words and- after Harry’s evident repulsion of it- no touching.

After that, the boys had settled on opposite sides of the room, Peter chattering away about the situation, about wizards (after Harry had explained the mumbling about a wand), about anything he remembered, which wasn’t much. It had helped Harry ground himself, and he had appreciated the boy’s company.

Although, now, with Alex, he relished in the moments of silence. The silent comradery that Alex offered, and the privacy that came with it.

“What are you?” Harry asked the boy once his breathing had reached a steady rhythm. He opened his eyes and found Alex lying on his back, one knee bent and the other foot on the wall.

Alex’s eyes didn’t leave the ceiling. “Spy working with MI6.”

“You serious?” Harry began. He thought Alex was kidding and would’ve laughed too, if that hadn’t been the second time he’d heard MI6 today. Harry thought back to Alan Blunt, while staring at Alex. Neither exactly fit his criteria of a spy. He shook his head- the boy looked too young. “How o-?”

“Fourteen.” Alex drawled.

Harry stopped. _He probably gets asked that a lot. Don’t be a prat about it._ “And Alan Blunt?”

Alex huffed. “No idea.”

“Aren’t you supposed to keep the whole spy thing a secret?”

Alex turned his neck to look at Harry for a moment, then returned to staring at the ceiling. The look he had given Harry was likely unintentional- the guy had a very serious thinking face- but Harry still couldn’t help but feel like an idiot for asking.

“If we’re about to do what I think we’re going to do, you lot would’ve found out what I am anyway. No secrets here.”

Harry thought about that. Whoever was keeping them, that Pierce guy, had four boys; as far as Harry knew, one’s a wizard and one’s a British spy. He had mentioned the different worlds, introduced them to their representatives (seeing Albus Dumbledore brought waves of recognition, but nothing stuck in his memories- or lack thereof,) and then told them they’d be some sort of stealth group, like the Avengers, and they didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Harry had heard of the Avengers before. He didn’t know where or when, but the name rung a bell- and if something going on abroad made news in England, it was big.

_ First, they’d have to learn how to work as a team_, Harry thought. He thought back to what Alex said. _No secrets. _They’d be tested.

Harry shivered at the thought. He didn’t fully know what that meant, but he didn’t like it, nevertheless. He opened his mouth to say something to Alex- lying nonchalant in the corner, probably having come to this conclusion before him- but he didn’t know what to say. His hands were sweating again, the room felt like it was getting smaller by the minute.

Harry heard beeping on the other side of the door, and whipped around to face it. The door swung open; he looked at Alex. The boy was already stood up, glaring at the door.

A masked guard came through, facing Harry. “Get up” he said harshly. Harry did.

“And _where_ are we going?” Alex asked calmly. The guard faced Alex for a moment, then turned around and signalled to someone outside the room. In seconds two more guards had Alex and Harry held tightly and moving.

“See if you idiots are worth the trouble,” Harry heard the guard say as he walked away.

As they were escorted out, Harry could only think two things: they hadn’t given them long to sleep in the first place and he hadn’t used any of that time, and: he had to get the hell out of here.

* * *

“Line em up.” The only unmasked guard yelled. “Boss wants them in combat order.” The guard grinned, but it looked more like a grimace. He had what looked like long, thin cut marks on his neck and around his wrists. His black hair was closely shaved and revealed more jagged scars starting on the back of his scalp, down his thick, muscular neck and disappearing into his uniform. His eyes were hostile, and his face was contorted with sick excitement. His sneer reminded Harry of a character he read about in secret when he was young: Headmistress Trunchbull. Harry smirked. _He looks like a bull, too._

The four boys were paired off, facing the guard, the Bull. Harry and Percy stood by each other, and after a brief gap, there stood Alex and Peter.

As the boys stood there, six guards stepped towards them. Four of them held thin, metallic collars which made Harry anxious. Four of the guards approached Percy and Peter first, expertly removing the thick collars around their neck with the new ones. The procedure was so quick, Harry was sure they had done it before. Two more guards approached Harry and Alex as the collars were placed on them also. It was done so swiftly, the boys barely had time to react. The collar was cold and tight. It had hummed slightly when it was attached to his neck, and Harry’s body tightened immediately.

They were in a humongous room. It was huge in size and in matter, because every meter of the room was covered in equipment, cameras, and speakers. The boys were facing the wall with the door, but they couldn’t stop looking around in awe at everything. 

The wall behind them had a viewing box fitted close to the ceiling. The glass that reinforced it was likely bullet proof, and was supported with heavy steel beams. Inside the viewing box were plain black sofas, already occupied with two men and two women in green lab coats. Harry couldn’t make out their faces from this far away, but he could spot the figure of Alexander Pierce, slightly apart from the four on the sofas, already smiling down at the scene before him. Harry shivered. A small part of the viewing box was cordoned off with the same thick glass, a single metal door leading in or out.

Below the viewing box was a long table, full of a seemingly random assortment of weapons. From where he stood, Harry could make out a bronze sword; a wide plethora of guns of different shapes and sizes; some more weapons like num-chuks, batons, a flail; what looked like high-tech wristbands; and- Harry’s heart skipped a beat- his wand.

He itched to grab it, to hold it in his hand. He felt powerless without his wand. But Harry was discouraged from running to it by the thick glass box it was held in. His wand looked so delicate, lying on the plush, deep purple pillow it was placed on, but Harry knew he needed it to escape- if he were to ever escape.

The wall on their right looked like a high school gym. Ladders climbed the wall to the ceiling, from which about two dozen thick ropes hung, reaching up until the middle of the room. On the ground, six heavy dividers were scattered around randomly. _Probably to provide cover_.

The wall on their left was made entirely of a long, thin water tank, holding an incredible amount of water. The tank itself was supported by glass as thick as Harry himself, and the top of the tank was open. Percy stirred next to him when he saw it.

“Don’t even think about it” the Bull warned. The boys looked at him. He was smiling maliciously at Percy, who yelped in pain as he held the collar attached to this neck. He glared at the Bull, but said nothing.

“This is the testing room.” The Bull began, facing the line. “This is where we see what you are capable of, and what your weaknesses and strengths are. You will be facing each other, in pairs already decided based on your abilities.”

Harry frowned. He opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by an electric shock, running through his collar. He grunted, in pain.

The Bull smiled again. “The collars on your necks will stop you idiots from doing, saying, or thinking anything stupid. We can shock you whenever we feel like it, and we will.”

Peter made a small noise. “Uh, that can’t be good for-” the boy grunted, his hands reaching for his neck. “Right. Should’ve seen that c-” Peter stopped speaking, his eyes closed tightly as he was shocked again.

Harry felt his face grow hot. He saw Alex itch to say something, but they had all reached the same conclusion. _Just do what he wants- for now…_

The Bull continued. “I have a remote, Pierce has a remote, and all the scientists watching you right now have one too. The shock level reaches twenty, and what I’ve already used on you three-” He nodded at Harry, Peter, and Percy, “is just the first level. Except,” he turned to Percy, “your remote had to be modified.” The Bull took out a silver box with a dial and several buttons on it. He shook it at Percy. “You have that pesky little curse. Without the collar there’s no way-”

The Bull paused, evidently stopping himself from giving too much away, then leered at Percy. “Your remote is eleven times stronger than the others. You might feel more pain, you might feel the same amount. But you sure as hell won’t feel less.” Percy glowered at him, almost threatening him to press the button again.

The Bull returned the remote to his pocket. “Oh, and I should show you what it feels like,” his eyes glinted at Alex as he reached into his pocket.

“Wait!” Percy called out. “He doesn’t need to-” He closed his eyes tightly, breathing heavily. The Bull’s hand hadn’t even left his pocket, but Harry knew Percy had been shocked. Harry heard the younger boy next to Peter breathe sharply. White hot fury boiled in his chest.

The Bull looked at Harry. “Want to say something?”

Harry clenched his teeth. The Bull stared intently at him. “Heard you had quite the temper. Go on. Whatever you say will be taken out on these two,” the Bull nodded at Alex and Peter.

Harry felt his fists clench too, but said nothing. Harry was no stranger to pain, but he didn’t know about the others. He felt helpless, useless. He breathed heavily through his nose, trying to soothe his anger. The Bull gazed at Harry, now uninterested.

“Basically, you all have to do what we say. If you don’t fight each other, you get shocked. If one of you acts up, everyone else gets shocked. We want you fighting your best. Everything you might need is set out for you. If you even think about trying to escape,” the Bull reached into his pocket again, and suddenly the boys’ collars started vibrating slightly and humming dangerously. Harry froze. “This is level twenty. It’ll knock you out for days- weeks, depending on your pain tolerance- by which time, you don’t know what kind of tests we could’ve run on you.” The collar stopped humming, and the Bull took his hand out of his pocket.

The speakers above them came to life. Alexander Pierce’s voice filled the room: “Start testing now. Bring combat team two up.”

Peter and Alex were escorted to the doors. Alex remained calm, completely unfazed. Peter, however, was trying to shake the guards loose. “Ei! I know how to walk- can we stop with the touching? Please?”

Alex glanced at Peter, eyebrow up, wondering what the fuss was about. Harry smiled. The two of them make an unlikely pair. Peter caught Alex’s look, and was obviously trying to reciprocate the expression, but with his big, brown eyes, it looked more reproachful. “What?” He protested. “I just don’t like all the touching and squeezing.” Harry snorted.

The Bull sighed. “Get em out of here!”

The two were shuffled out of the room. Percy leaned close to Harry. “What are you?” He whispered.

“A wizard,” Harry whispered back.

Percy’s shoulder slumped. “Of course you are,” he mumbled.

“You?”

“Demigod.”

“What the hell is that?”

“Son of a Greek god? Honestly still figuring it out.” Percy shrugged. “Hey,” he whispered urgently, “Are you a wizard of anything in particular or just everything?”

“No talking.” The Bull growled.

“I dunno. Everything, I suppose?”

Percy closed his eyes. “I’m so screwed.”

“Quiet!” The Bull yelled, and the boys winced as they were shocked. This time, Harry felt the muscles in his neck clench painfully. His pulse stopped for a moment. _Higher level_.

“Hey!” He yelled. “What was that for?”

The Bull smiled. “Oh, that wasn’t me.” He nodded behind them, at the viewing box.

Percy and Harry turned around.

The scene in the box had changed since Harry had last seen it. Two of the scientists, a man and a woman, had stepped forward, eagerly surveying the scene below them. They had what looked like a remote in their hands each- one black, one silver- and were holding them with a little too much ease. Alexander Pierce stood by them, and hungry look on his face.

In the cordoned off area Harry had seen before were now four people looking down at them. Peter and Alex were being held close to the glass by two guards, forced to watch whatever was about to play out. There was another guard stationed outside the metal door that kept them in.

“No weapons, just your abilities.” The boys turned to face the Bull again. “You will fight each other, and you’ll stop when we tell you to stop. Your progress will be noted by your scientist, as will your weaknesses.”

Harry briefly wondered if his scientist was the man or the woman- not that it made much difference, they would probably shock him either way.

“Everything you need is in this room. We expect a full display of your powers.” The Bull paused, then smirked at them. “And I probably don’t need to remind you that if you don’t fight-” he looked at the viewing box, and Harry and Percy followed his gaze. Alex and Peter were still looking at them, still under close watch. “-we’ll find a way to convince you.”

One of their guards pressed something on the wall beside him, and suddenly Harry could hear what was going on in the room.

“What?” Peter murmured. The younger boys looked confused to have everyone staring at them. Harry felt dread blossom in his stomach. He turned to the Bull.

“Don’t-”

Alex and Peter’s yelps filled the room, and they didn’t stop.

“Would you quit it?” Harry yelled, while Percy screamed at the Bull: “You don’t need to do that, we know what’ll happen!”

“Oh really?” The Bull hadn’t taken his hand out of his pocket. Alex and Peter’s pained sounds continued- Harry desperately wondered how high the level was. “I just want to be sure, because-”

“Stop!” Percy yelled, moving to attack the Bull. Immediately he froze and dropped to his knee, glaring up at the Bull, shaking slightly. Harry whipped around, looking up at the viewing box. The female scientist had her silver remote held up, a sick look on her face, pressing on whatever button was forcing Percy to the ground.

The Bull had taken his hand out of his pocket and the sounds stopped- Percy got up, rubbing his neck. The Bull looked at the masked guards behind him. “Take the doors, unlock the wand.” He then walked to the door, “see you idiots in a sec.” He said, smiling.

Harry and Percy looked at each other, suddenly alone and immediately feeling awkward.

Percy looked around, tapping his leg. “I mean, I guess you need your wand?”

“Err, yeah. I’ll- I’ll go get it.”

The boys separated; Percy towards the water tank, and Harry to his wand. He jogged to the weapons table, eager to hold it again. He saw that the glass casing had been taken off, and it was lying there, on the pillow, willing him to pick it up. When he did, he felt a surge of warmth, of familiarity, through his body. He didn’t feel so naked anymore.

Harry positioned himself opposite Percy, on the other side of the large room, his back to the dividers. Percy was stood there, nothing in his hands, stood in front of the giant water tank. _What’s he going to fight with? Aren’t they going to give him anything? Maybe I should go easy…_

Percy took a tentative look at the viewing box, where Peter and Alex were watching them curiously, along with everyone else in the box. Harry saw that the younger boys had been joined by the Bull, and immediately felt anxious for them.

He looked at Percy, who had already been studying him. Suddenly Harry felt his skin crawl. The look Percy was giving him was no longer kind, no longer empathetic. He was staring at Harry with an incredible wolf stare, as though he was confident in his ability to win this fight. His stance screamed: _you’re about to wish you weren’t paired up with me._

Harry hoped he looked as intimidating to Percy.

Alexander Pierce’s voice filled the room again: “Test One- combat team one. Begin.”

Percy’s stare broke for a second. Harry saw a faint smile that seemingly said: _Sorry about this. Let’s just get it over with._ Percy glanced at the younger boys as if to say: _for them_.

Harry smiled back, reassured. They had no choice, they had to fight each other- but Harry agreed. They wouldn’t forget who was forcing them to do this, who the real enemy was. If they had to play along to protect Alex and Peter, that’s fine. But they were going to get the boys out of here, and their captors were going to pay.

Harry nodded at Percy. _Let’s do this._

Percy smirked, his frightening confidence taking over his stance again. He raised his hands, and the tank behind him shuddered. Harry stared in awe as all the water in the tank was separated into two cyclones, turning at such a speed that the wind almost knocked Harry back. The cyclones rose into the air, getting taller as they drew more water from the tank. Harry looked at Percy, who was raising his arms expertly. The boy smiled, and shifted his hands, commanding the cyclones into the shape and direction he wanted-

-which, at this moment, was towards Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of new ideas and descriptions. Let me know what you thought!


	10. Alex Rider

“How _on_ _earth_ are you doing that?” Alex yelled to the ceiling.

“I don’t know!”

Alex was pretty sure this was the weirdest thing he’d ever seen. Or- at least he really, _really_ hoped it was.

Peter was clinging to the wall like some kind of monkey. They had been fighting, close combat, for three hours and a quarter now. Peter put up a good fight, though Alex couldn’t place his fighting style. He couldn’t even call it mixed martial arts, because Peter’s fighting was completely unorthodox- probably self taught.

They were a good match for each other. Although Alex was clearly more experienced and Peter couldn’t catch him off guard, Peter had fantastic instincts. Whenever Alex was about to knock him down or land a knock-out kick, Peter would somehow see it coming and deflect it- or, when he was spooked, he would jump unnaturally high and grab at the ropes above him, or stick to the wall.

Alex shook his head, trying to figure out how Peter was doing that.

They both agreed, when they were pushed into the arena after the insane fight between Harry and Percy, that they wouldn’t use any weapons. Peter was just wearing a jumper, normal trousers, and trainers. Nothing on him should be able to let him stick to the wall. Hell, the guy’s not even sweating.

Even stranger- the kid was insanely strong. Alex could tell that Peter was pulling his strikes, but he still hit with power a kid his size shouldn’t have. Every time Alex surprised Peter and the boy struck him back in defence, it knocked Alex back, with the familiar sound of Peter apologizing profusely.

Peter suddenly grunted, falling hard to the ground. Alex glared at the viewing box. Pierce spoke into the intercom while Peter’s scientist firmly held the button down on his remote.

“End of Test Three – combat team two.”

Peter groaned in pain as the double doors of the arena opened. The Chief guard walked through, with Percy and Harry trailing behind with the rest of the guards. Chief was walking leisurely, relishing in Peter’s groaning. They were going to electrocute Peter until the Power Sapping Collar was reattached- they had done the same thing with Percy once his tests with Harry were done.

Alex didn’t know what the collar was actually called, or what it was made of. He’d never seen anything like it before. All he knew was that it drained the power out of Peter and Percy; and that Chief was taking his time getting to Peter, letting him stay in his electrocuted state for as long as possible.

Alex caught Percy’s eye. The older boy looked exactly how he felt. He hated standing by useless as Peter writhed, but whenever any of them tried to do anything about it, Peter would suffer more.

They had all learned that lesson the hard way when Harry yelled at them to stop electrocuting Percy at the end of their testing. Percy’s dial had been turned to maximum strength.

Peter let out a silent sigh of relief when his collar was reattached and the electrocution stopped. Alex stood still as another guard took off his collar.

“Carrick.” Pierce’s voice rang through the arena. Everyone looked to the viewing box where Pierce was still surrounded by the scientists, all busy jotting down their findings. “Get them to the holding quarters.”

Chief nodded, his scars shining as his skin stretched. He turned to his guards. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Their ‘holding quarters’ turned out to be a glorified prison.

Alex, Peter, Harry, and Percy were all quiet as they were escorted past two thick, metal wall dividers (which slid upwards slowly after Carrick entered his passcode) into an industrial sized lift (also activated by passcode) and through a vault door, secured by a another passcode and a spoke handle.

_So much for a quick escape._

He was trying to watch Carrick’s hand movement while he entered the passcode- but to no avail. A sinking feeling washed over Alex as he realized it would take time to plan an escape. He wasn’t sure what Pierce had planned for them, but wasn’t sure they even _had_ that time.

Alex stepped out of the lift, swallowing the urge to shove his guard off of him, and looked around.

The holding quarters seemed to take up the whole floor.

By no means was it a big space. It was shaped like an octagon. Four cells occupied the area, facing the center of the room. The cell walls were made of thick glass, and the doors hummed with electric energy every time it was opened to let a boy in.

Harry was pushed into the cell to the right of the door. Next to him was Alex, then Percy, and finally, Peter. The guards left them without another word.

Alex scanned the room and the cells for cameras, locks, weaknesses, strengths. The glass was likely bullet and shock proof- he could tell by its thickness. It would require incredible force to break through; something they did not have. The doors- which would have presented as weaknesses to the bulletproof glass- were enforced with electricity. There were no locks; and Alex had noticed the guards wearing thick rubber gloves when they opened the door handles.

Alex glanced at the ceiling and his heart dropped. Even if they did manage to break through the glass, or get their hands on the rubber gloves, and then find their way back through the maze of keypads and doors, there was a camera in the dead center of the ceiling, watching their every move.

“Fantastic.” Harry mumbled, breaking Alex out of his thoughts. “Another bloody cell.”

Peter sniffed in agreement. He had tripped and fallen into the cell, and Alex turned around to see that the boy had decided to get comfortable with the position he’d found himself in. “How many rooms are there in this place? Feels like it goes on forever…”

“The biggest problem right now, monkey boy,” Alex raised his eyebrow at Peter, “is how we’re s’pposed to sleep and _go_ without a bed and a loo”

“Uh, sorry-” Percy was stood close to the glass with his hand up as if to ask a question. “What’s a loo?”

“He means a toilet.” Harry answered with his back on the ground, eyes closed as if he were sleeping.

“_How _are you sleeping right now?” Percy was stalking his cell, tapping his fingers on his black trousers impatiently.

Peter quietly told Percy that Harry was claustrophobic, while the boy in question hummed.

Percy shook his head incredulously. “We _have _to get out of here.”

Alex fidgeted with his necklace. He walked the perimeter of his cell for the umpteenth time, wondering what they should do. “How?” He said more to himself than anyone else. “The glass is probably shock proof; we can’t get through, and-” Alex turned to find Percy staring at his fingers fidgeting with his necklace. They guy looked like he’d seen a ghost. Alex stopped fidgeting and turned around.

“I think I could break it?” Two cells away from Alex, Peter was sat, crossed legged, with a hand to the glass.

“Mate, unless you have an RPG underneath that jumper-”

“No,” Peter blushed, “I don’t… but when they took the vibranium collar off, I swear I felt like…” The kid trailed off.

“What,” Percy’s eyes lit up. “Like, super strength?”

Peter’s blush deepened. “I don’t know. I mean… I’m pretty sure?”

“Anything you can’t do, monkey boy?” Alex murmured sarcastically. He was trying hard to keep the excitement from getting his hopes up.

“Is that what you are?” Percy asked. “Half monkey or something?”

“Uh-”

“Monkeys can’t stick to walls.” Harry mumbled from the ground.

“True…” Percy’s eyebrows furrowed deeply. “A koala?” An insect? Insect boy?”

Peter scoffed. “Okay, _no one_ is calling me insect boy.”

Percy broke into laughter. It was enough to make Alex chuckle and even draw a smile from Harry. The noise was almost too loud to hear a disgruntled Peter grumble: “I wouldn’t mind koala boy, though,” which only made Percy laugh louder.

The laughter reminded Alex of something; something that had been bothering him while they had been talking. “Wait a second…” Alex looked up at Percy. “How are we hearing each other so easily?”

Harry leaned up on his elbows as Percy frowned. “Shouldn’t we be able to?”

“No,” Peter’s eyes traced the corners of his cell. “You’re right… We should be yelling to hear each other…”

“Maybe it’s not ballistic glass?” Alex murmured, deep in thought. He was used to strategizing by himself, especially because he was usually the only one in the room with knowledge about certain substances and materials. This is why he almost jumped when Peter finished his thoughts, bouncing off him like an echo.

“It has to be… with how thick it is, and how it’s absorbing stuff like…” Peter punched the glass tentatively.

“’t means there has to be some kind of…”

Both boys looked up at the ceiling.

Alex heard Percy whisper, “What are we looking at?” to Harry, who simply shrugged, also staring up at the ceiling with his mouth open.

It was a regular ceiling.

Alex looked to the ground. There had to be some break in the glass…

He spotted it. A thin slit was cut through the glass by the ground.

“Food hole?” Peter asked as Alex leaned over to examine it.

“Yeah…”

The closer he got, the louder it was. More electricity. The hole didn’t have a flap or a handle; it was armed with electricity.

Alex looked up to see the other boys inspecting each of their food holes.

He knew that with a flap or a handle, the boys would be able to touch and have a say in if anything comes in the cell. With electricity, the guards were in complete control once again.

The sight of the hole infuriated Alex. Traditionally he would’ve seen a hole in a cell as a weakness in its structure. This, however, was just a tease.

“Never mind…” Alex mumbled, trying to hide how disgruntled he felt.

Harry flopped back onto his back. His eyes were closed again. Alex knew he was struggling with the small space, but it made the wizard look resigned.

“Well maybe we can find a way to disarm it.” Peter looked like he was thinking hard. Alex appreciated it, but there was no way they’d have to tools or access to any mainframes under the close watch of the guards.

“So… let me get this straight-” Percy looked anxious to change the subject. He pointed at each of his cellmates. “You are some sort of super-young spy with crazy combat skills. You are a wizard of literally everything and you know a whole bunch of weird spells. And you are… a mutant?”

Alex nodded, shaking thoughts of escaping out of his mind for now. Harry hummed in the affirmative, smiling despite himself. Peter shrugged, “why am I the only one who doesn’t know what he is?”

“Maybe no one really knows what you are,” Harry suggested.

Peter grimaced like he didn’t like the sound of that. Neither did Alex.

Percy raised his eyebrows. “Or maybe, you found out what you were at the same time something big happened, so they had to erase that from your memories… Maybe you were the something big that happened.”

Peter furrowed his brows. “Yeah… maybe…”

“Hang on-” Harry propped himself on his elbows again, looking pointedly at Percy. “You’re saying all of this as if what _you_ are isn’t the weirdest thing here!”

Percy smirked knowingly. “What do you mean?”

“Mate, you’re half Greek god? How does that even work? How can you just _control_ the water like that?” Harry lowered himself back onto the ground, grumbling, “you almost drowned me with all that Greek magic.”

Percy laughed. “Now I remember! I was going to ask- what the hell does _experimentus_ mean?”

Harry snorted. “_Expelliarmus_. It was _supposed_ to disarm you.”

Percy forced himself not to laugh, a shadow of a smirk on his face. “But like, when it didn’t work on the water… Why did you _keep_ trying it?”

Harry popped his head up and looked at Percy, frowning. He saw the boy trying hard not to laugh and rolled his eyes, a smile betraying his expression.

“I don’t know! I was never trained to fight against bloody water- what was I supposed to do?” Percy joined Harry’s laughter. Alex thought back to their fight and remembered feeling confused as to why Harry kept trying that same spell over and over again. It had looked pretty funny at the time.

Peter smiled. “Do all spells have to be in Latin? I thought I recognized some words when you were fighting.”

Harry nodded. “Most of them are Latin-derived. At least, I assume so. I think- Peter, are you alright?”

The boys turned their attention on Peter when they heard a deep stomach growl; he was hunched over and holding his stomach.

“Yeah.” The word came out strained and not convincing at all. “Just… haven’t eaten… It kind of hits me every now and then.”

Percy shook his head, all humour drained from his face. He hit the glass hard, making Peter jump. “Hey! Hey!” He yelled, “the kid needs some food! You can’t just not feed him! Hey!”

“Percy…”

Percy suddenly froze, his face contorted. His hand reached up to his neck, where the collar was sending shocks through his body. Alex looked tentatively at the thick door out of the cell room. His heart pounded when he heard metal clanging on the other side. The door screeched open slowly, revealing a masked guard. The rest of the boys scrambled to their feet, wide eyes watching the door.

“Shut up, kid. We see you acting up again, we’ll let you starve.”

The masked guard disappeared behind the door to close it, and Percy was released from the electrocution. The boy looked livid, and Alex couldn’t tell if he was breathing heavily though pain or anger. He opened his mouth to retaliate, but Peter silently pleaded with him not to.

“These fucking kids, I swear.”

The door was not yet fully closed. Alex realized he could still hear the guards over the screeching of the door.

“How long are we keeping them?”

There was a snort of laughter. “If I knew. Pierce wants to use them to eliminate the wizard world.”

Alex turned to Harry, who’s face was pale.

“Woah. Where’d you hear that from?”

“Overheard it. That’s why he’s so freaked, he can’t figure out how to d-”

A big metal clang sounded in the room, echoing in Alex’s mind. He looked at his cellmates and found that the horror on their faces told them all they needed to know.

They had all heard it.

Pierce was planning to wipe out the wizarding world. He was planning a genocide.

“Harry,” Peter stuttered quietly, his voice shaking. “I- I…”

Harry shook his head. His jaw was tightly clenched, his eyes were hot behind his glasses. He looked furious; but when Alex looked a little closer, a little longer, he saw that the boy’s lips were quivering, and his eyes were shining. He was scared.

“I- I, I need… I need to get out of here. _I need to get out of here!_” Harry screamed. He ran to the glass and pounded it with his fists.

“Harry!” Percy yelled.

“_I need to get out of here!_”

The familiar clanging of the door resonated in the room. The door screeched open again.

It only made Harry more desperate. His knuckles were bleeding. There was blood on the glass.

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

A sudden electric shock froze Alex. He fought to look up and saw the rest of the boys struggling too, with their hands to their necks. Harry’s screaming stopped, but his cheeks shone with tears.

“Who was that?”

Alex forced his eyes open. His muscles spasmed with pain. His mouth was letting out strained noises, desperate for the pain to stop.

He barely saw the two guards enter the room again. Their voices swam through his mind, breaking his concentration and willing him into unconsciousness.

“Obviously… me, you… idiot” he heard someone say.

Alex’s muscles forced him to fold in on himself.

One of the guards laughed shortly. “You again? Might as well start testing early, what do you think?”

“Sounds like a plan.” The other guard affirmed; his hands full of remotes.

The last thing Alex saw before his voltage was increased and he was forced into unconsciousness was a cell door open, someone being dragged out, and the metal door closing once more. Then, darkness.

* * *

_“You don’t look so good, Tony.”_

_“You’re late.”_

_“I know.”_

_“What? Had to check that I didn’t bring law enforcement with me? Please.”_

_“Tony, I-”_

_“Save it, Rogers. I’m not here to listen to your apologies.”_

_“Alright. Then why are we here?”_

_“I… uh… I- may have, um…”_

_“Tony?”_

_“You know what? Forget it. It’s not like you’d actually care anyway. I don’t need this.”_

_“Tony!”_

_“_What?_”_

_“What happened? I want to help.”_

_“Huh, why do I seriously doubt that?”_

_“Tony-”_

_“Fine, alright? Fine! I messed up. Spiderman- do you know Spiderman? Of course you know Spiderman, you know everyone. Well, his name- screw it… I hate that I’m telling you this. His is Peter Parker, he’s my intern, he’s just fifteen years old.”_

_“_Fifteen years-_”_

_“Save it Rogers. I don’t need a speech about morality right now, especially not from you.”_

_“Tony, he’s just a-”_

_“The point is the kid is missing!”_

_“Missing? How missing?”_

_“I don’t know! I don’t know… His aunt called me a week ago exactly, saying that he never came home after I sent him home. I checked everything- the Tower cameras, store cameras, phone cameras. I tracked down everyone at the Tower or even around the Tower that day- nothing. I checked his friends’ houses, his usual hangouts, hospitals, rooftops- every place you can imagine-”_

_“Tony-”_

_“The kid’s not like this. He wouldn’t just disappear! What if he’s hurt? What if he’s lost?”_

_“Tony-”_

_“Every newspaper in the country covered ‘_Midtown student hired by Stark Industries: The Youngest Intern to Catch Tony Stark’s Eye_’ and he’s gone just _days_ later? What if he’s been kidnapped? I’ve tried everything, Rogers! I can’t find him! God, listen to me, I hate myself for even asking you, since you want nothing to do with me, but you’re better at these things and I… I just really need to catch a break here. Please, Steve. He’s… he’s such a good kid.”_

_“Tony, relax. I’d be honoured to work with you again.”_

_“You… uh- what?”_

_“I thought the reason you asked me here was to… Never mind that now, we can discuss that later; but my team and I have given it more thought and… well, we think we could come to an agreement with the Accords if we can make some adjustments. But we all agree, we want you on our side- the world needs a united front.”_

_“You want… you want _me_, on…?”_

_“We can talk about it later. First, we need to find Queens.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay safe everyone.


	11. Percy Jackson

_“It’s been a week, Rumlow. A _week_. How have we not made any progress?”_

_“With all due respect, sir, it took us longer than a week with Barnes-”_

_“I don’t care about Barnes! You said the program was improved! I need results.”_

_“Sir. We are getting significant results from Potter _and_ we are making progress with the weapon; Parker is hard to convince, but it’s nothing we cannot handle. But the two in the program-”_

_“Rumlow… Are you meaning to tell me that not all have been initiated into the program yet? Do you think we have time for this?”_

_“Sir, the doctors said it would be dangerous to-”_

_“_I don’t care what the doctors say! _People are asking questions, wondering where these boys are. _The Avengers themselves_ are back together and looking for Peter Parker. The whole team, Rumlow. Why do you think that is?”_

_“Pierce-”_

_“Because you didn’t do your research, you imbecile! You picked up _Spiderman_! I wanted a genius intern and you brought me Stark’s protégé!”_

_“I will start Potter and Parker on the program in three weeks. Any earlier, and Potter doesn’t survive the conversion. As for Parker, I need his mind sharp. The other two are showing signs of increased memory loss and I need his mind ready to build the weapon. If that is all, I need to get back. We have another session scheduled in an hour with Jackson if you would like to join.”_

_“I would. You can go.”_

* * *

“Percy!”

Percy groaned. He was exhausted. His body felt raw with pain. His stomach was empty. His mind was fried and, the longer he thought on it, the more he realized he was starting to lose the few precious memories he had left.

“Percy, mate. You need to eat.”

He forced his eyes open, wishing they’d just let him lay here. The cool floor was soothing against his cheek. He wanted to sleep, but he knew he was worrying them.

He turned around and faced his cell mates, ignoring the overwhelming desire to close his eyes. They all looked terrible.

On his left was Peter, sitting cross legged on the ground. He was chewing a piece of bread slowly, as if he was savouring every last crumb- which he was. Percy and Peter were only fed a piece of bread every three days which, along with the collar around their necks, kept them weak.

Percy squinted at Peter. The kid did not look good. As far as he knew, Peter wasn’t being experimented on or tortured, but something was happening to the kid; something he wouldn’t tell the rest of the boys. His skin was dotted with ugly bruises and his eyes were puffy and red. The sight of it once again filled Percy with rage; he felt so useless.

On his left was Alex. He was lying on his stomach in front of his door, as if he had been thrown into his cell and had passed out- which he had. Alex and Percy were always thrown back into their cells like this after Pierce was done with them. The two of them were so exhausted from the torture that it wasn’t unusual for them to sleep until they were pulled out of their cells again.

Harry was a different story. Percy remembered when they had overheard the guards speak about the wizarding community. When Harry lost it, and Percy took the fall for him. That had been Percy’s first taste of the torture Pierce had planned for him and Alex, and he’d almost been glad that Harry had escaped punishment; but looking at the boy now, Percy wasn’t so sure.

This was the first time Percy had seen Harry since the wizard was taken three days ago. The guy had been kept wherever he was taken that whole time, and he looked pale and sickly. Percy’s vision was swimming and he had to narrow his eyes, but he saw the marks on Harry’s forearm clearly and remembered the boy telling his cellmates about the room he had been taken to, the blood being drawn out of his arm; the restraints; the testing. The one thing that hadn’t changed about the wizard was the fury in his eyes; it was still there, growing every day since he heard those guards discussing Pierce’s plans.

Percy looked to the ground, finding his piece of bread beside him. He picked it up and sucked on it. He thought hard, trying to navigate through the fog in his mind. He felt weak and tired. He needed more food and rest, but he knew better than to ask. Not for the first time Percy wondered if there was a way to communicate with the Greek gods to get them out of here. _They’re gods… they can do anything, right?_

Another, more ashamed part of Percy’s mind was thinking about himself, and wondering if anyone was looking for him. Even someone missing him was enough… Just as long as people noticed he was gone.

Percy shook his head. He didn’t remember anyone or anything. He knew he had family, but other than the Greek gods, he wouldn’t know where he belonged. He got a pang of familiarity in his heart whenever Alex nervously played with his beads, but no memory stuck to it. He wondered if he would ever get back to his normal life- whatever that was.

“Percy?”

Percy followed the whisper to Peter’s cell. He scanned the rest of the room, finding Alex still passed out and Harry leant against his cell wall, muttering softly.

The kid looked crestfallen. His big brown eyes forced themselves too look at Percy, looking guilty and scared.

“Yeah?”

“I…” Peter broke eye contact, gulping the last few crumbs of his bread with effort. “They want me to build a weapon.”

He was so taken aback by Peter’s words that he replied with a stupid question: “Who?”

“Pierce’s guys… I keep trying to say no, but they- uh” Peter sighed tiredly. He didn’t have to finish the sentence; the proof was all over him. The marks, the bruises. Percy’s anger inflamed.

“Bastards… Can you even do that?”

Peter nodded solemnly. “I keep trying to tell them I can’t, but somehow they know I can… I must’ve done something… or something like… I don’t know, but they won’t believe me.” The boy’s eyes kept flicking nervously to Harry, who was still asleep. He seemed to be worried that the wizard would hear what he was saying.

Percy’s mouth dropped open; a strange feeling clutched his heart. “Is it to attack the-” Percy nodded over to Harry.

Tears filled Peter’s eyes. Percy’s eyes widened. He looked at Harry, weak and pale, fighting to stay alive. He couldn’t look away from the boy who looked so young in his sleep. “No.”

Peter sniffed and wiped a hand across his eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

Percy thought deeply. “Why you?”

Peter’s inhale was interrupted with a hiccup. “They- they said they’ve been tr-trying for months now. They c-can’t figure it out and- and they need me.”

“Hey, hey Peter, it’s okay.” Peter looked like he was trying his best to stop crying, but he was just too tired. “It’s okay, buddy.”

“I don’t… I don’t want to! I don’t want to help!”

“Peter, Peter, it’s okay, you’re alright.” It felt weird, comforting the kid. Percy almost wasn’t sure what to say, and their situation didn’t help either. “Um…” He desperately tried to say something that would help, trying not to look into the kid’s watery eyes.

One thing cleared his mind. A dangerous idea. Something that could get them all killed. Something that could get them out of here.

“What if…” Percy spoke slightly louder, catching Peter’s attention, hoping to all the gods he knew that the camera above them didn’t pick up audio. The kid immediately stopped sniffling. “You make this weapon… and it doesn’t work for them? What if… they can’t use it, and it messes up all their plans…” Percy stared deliberately at Peter. “Would you get in trouble for that?”

Peter’s mouth opened slightly, his genius brain already miles away from the cells. “That won’t be ideal for them, I guess…”

The kid looked at Percy, a sparkle retuning to his eyes. “Why would you even suggest that?”

* * *

Percy knew he would be the next to be pulled out of his cage. There was an order, and, after his stunt with the guards last week, he was the first in that order.

Percy felt them coming before he heard them. It could be the vibrations of their footsteps on the ground, or just their impeccable timing, but he was already on his feet by the time the metal door squealed open.

As usual, guards spilled into the room to drag him out. The first two carried platters of bread, water, brown soup, and cheese, which they quickly deposited in Alex’s and Harry’s food slots. The boys, however, were still asleep- which the only reason Percy was about to let them take him from his cell without putting up a fuss.

He tore his eyes away from the food and looked at Peter. The kid was also asleep, curled up as if he were cold. He was worried for his cellmates. _How much longer can we take this?_

Percy allowed himself to be dragged out of his cell, following the grunts of instruction from the guards. With an entourage of four guards, Percy was led into the elevator, down the familiar hallways, and through the familiar security points to the Programming Room, as they called it. They made the trip in silence, the sound of their footsteps masking Percy’s pounding heart.

Soon, turned into another hallway, only this one was characterized by a steel door at the end of it; it was identical to the one that blocked off their cells from the elevator. The sight of it brought sweat to Percy’s hands. He clenched his fists to hide his shaking.

As the steel door creaked open, Percy looked at the guard beside him. “Well, this has been great. Thanks for walking me here, gentlemen.”

Percy relished in how annoying he was to them. The two guards next to him tightened their grip on him painfully. He kept going, however. Right now, this was his only way to rebel. He turned to the other guard beside him. “You know, you really should smile more- people might like you better when they see your pearly whites.”

Even through the guard’s mask, Percy felt the glare. He smirked as the door was opened fully and he was pushed through. He fell into the arms of a different group of people, ones which he had been dreading to meet since he left his cell. Determined to appear unbothered, he quickly turned back around before the door shut fully. “Later then, boys!”

The door slammed shut. The sound of it consumed Percy’s mind.

“Rumlow, shut him up.”

Rough hands spun Percy around.

He was in a large chamber. It was cold and dark. Chain-link fencing cut the room in half. Percy was on the side of the room that was empty of equipment, but full of people. A dozen guards lined the wall, six on either side of the steel door. Through the chain-link fence, Percy saw the familiar sight of a dentist chair from hell, equipped with restraints for his neck, head, arms, chest, legs, and ankles. His hands shook more violently now.

Beside the chair were more people. Pierce, Percy’s personal scientist which he hated, and two more guards. On the other side was a table with various instruments on it. Percy forced himself not to look at it, but he knew there was a mouthguard and a syringe on it. Everything else had yet to be used. Behind the table was a huge window, behind which Pierce vanished when these sessions became messy.

Rumlow stepped forward to unlock the door in the chain-link fence. Percy followed him through it, his breath stuck in his throat. He was trying to appear calm, but the fear had to be radiating off him.

“Jackson!” Pierce smiled brightly, as if this was a chance meeting. “Lovely to have you back. Now, lets get right on with it. Doctor? If you will?”

Rumlow forced Percy into the chair and tightened the restraints. Percy winced as the neck restraint was tightened over his collar, bruising the already raw skin beneath it. The doctor waited for Rumlow to step back before she put the mouthguard into Percy’s mouth. Percy’s heart was pounding so hard he felt the beat in his neck.

“Everyone ready?” Pierce looked around. His gaze settled on Percy’s eyes. A savage sort of satisfaction fueled the man’s smile. Percy wondered if he would be knocked unconscious; it had yet to happen in one of these sessions. The day that they managed to force him into unconsciousness was the day that he was theirs.

The doctor nodded and pressed a silver button, her notebook in hand. The dentist chair from hell leant backwards with a whir. Metal rods rose to Percy’s temples.

Percy’s body froze with pain. He couldn’t hear himself scream, and wondered if he was even making any noise. The pain blinded him; spots danced in his vision. He desperately tried to block out Pierce’s voice.

_“Loyalty. Forgotten. Twelve. Sun-drawn. Tartarus. Nine. Idle. Labyrinth. Seven. Camp.”_


	12. Peter Parker

Peter wished they would stop hitting his stomach. There was only air in there, so it just made him burp. He wondered why this annoyed them, then remembered that he was being beaten.

“You get it?”

Peter forgot who had spoken, or what he was supposed _to get_. He just knew that if he nodded, they would stop- so he did. It took him a few moments, reeled over and coughing, to remember where he was.

This happened often since the last few days. There were moments of time that Peter’s mind just zoned out. He was exhausted, his mind was foggy, and his stomach had forgotten to be hungry days ago. He wondered if they were trying to starve him to death.

“Hey! Parker!”

A hand pushed his forehead to bring his head up. Carrick. A very unhappy looking Carrick.

“What is it?” Peter tried so hard to remember why he was here, but his mind was obsessed with how empty he felt.

Carrick laughed. “This guy, right?” Peter had enough sense to know there was no humour in Carrick’s voice. The huge man grabbed Peter by the back of his neck and pushed him to start walking.

As soon as Peter looked around, he realized they were in the lab. It was blindingly white, with steel tables and heavy equipment. He looked down when he felt pressure around his waist and found a thick metal ring around his bruised torso with a cord attached to it, like some kind of leash. Peter followed the chord’s approximately five-meter length to Carrick, who was holding the end of the cord. Memories flooded back to him. He remembered that they had been trying to make him build a biological weapon.

Peter’s heart became weary.

A weapon to implement a genocide.

Too late did he remember this. Carrick was pushing him through a door. The door that led to-

“Harry.” Peter gasped, horrified by the sight ahead of him.

The door had led to an observing room. One side of it was made up of glass, which looked into a different sort of lab, one which was smaller and had only one operating table on it. Two doctors and two guards surrounded the table, on which lay the pale wizard, fighting to stay conscious, blood being pumped out of his veins.

Peter tried to look away, but Carrick’s hand forced him to look ahead. Peter closed his eyes, trying to ignore the tears in his eyes.

“Oh, look Spidey,” Carrick shook Peter’s head. “My favourite part.”

Peter refused to open his eyes, but he knew what was happening in front of him. He had been forced to watch this too many times. The experimentation. Pain tolerance and natural defences, genetic mutations, drug tolerance and necessity for sleep; anything that made Harry a wizard, they had to know about it. Peter clenched his eyes shut harder as he heard Harry start to whimper.

“Please… Can you,” Peter knew it was no use to beg, but what was happening was just too inhumane. “Make it stop? Please?”

“Oh? You want it to stop?” Carrick’s hands tightened on Peter’s neck. “I don’t know… They’re just getting started for today- look.”

Peter’s eyes betrayed him. He looked through the window and saw one of the doctors bringing down a scalpel towards Harry, who was too weak to even squirm, but aware enough to glare at it in fear.

“No! Stop it!” Peter shut his eyes again. “Stop it! I’ll build it- I will. Just stop it!”

Carrick laughed leisurely. “Sorry Spidey,” he drawled mockingly, watching as the doctors tested the wizard’s tolerance. “You can’t save this one. But hey! This is progress, because before…” Carrick leant down to whisper in Peter’s ear as his other hand clasped Peter’s shoulder. “I remember you saying you didn’t know how to build a weapon at all.”

Peter hated that nickname. Spidey. He didn’t remember his alter ego, nor did he feel worthy of it. Carrick kept taunting him with his history of being Spiderman, as if to tell him: _try and superhero your friends out of this one, Spiderman._

Peter hated himself for being so useless. The collar on his neck stripped him from his powers. Without Spiderman, he was just a weak teenager, only good for building weapons for genocide.

The scary thing was, though, Peter didn’t remember much from his life. He wondered if his parents were looking for him, or if he had any siblings.

_Is anyone looking for me?_

He wondered what he used to like doing, or what he used to _do_, because he certainly was itching to get his hands on the equipment in the lab and just _create_. He didn’t know how or why he felt so comfortable. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was incredibly intelligent and knew his way around the lab- he knew that by how confident he felt in his own mind. Pierce had to know that too, because Peter was the only boy that had been forced to take daily trips to the lab. Until now, Peter had been trying the feign ignorance; pretend he didn’t know what they were talking about, what he was supposed to do. Until now…

Peter hung his head, trying to ignore the noises Harry was making. Harry, of course, didn’t know Peter was on the other side of the glass, watching him. He didn’t know that Peter was about to build a weapon using the data taken from his experimentation to eradicate his whole species. Harry didn’t know, but Peter did. He could no longer look Harry in the eyes, not with all the blood on his hands.

Carrick yanked on the cord to steer Peter back into the lab, where they were met once again with the four scientists that Peter had to work with. “Hey, don’t worry Spidey. Soon enough, you’ll be in there too!”

Peter shuddered. He had been repeatedly promised that Harry wasn’t the only one who would be experimented on. Peter would have his time on that table… after he finished being of use in the lab.

“Who knew, huh?” Carrick spoke to the whole room. Peter knew what he was going to say; the man said it at least twice every session. He was taunting him. “We wanted a genius science nerd, and we got the infamous Spiderman.” The man laughed. “What are the odds, right?” The scientists around Peter murmured, staring at Peter hungrily. They had been staring at him since the first time he’d been pushed into the lab, as if they would love to pick his brain- literally. Peter stepped back, trying to ignore them.

“Alright everyone!” Carrick’s shouting made Peter jump. “Let’s get to it!”

Peter watched the man pull out a chair from under the lab tables and sit on it, watching them all closely.

The scientists remained eerily silent, as they usually were. Peter still didn’t know what their relationship with Carrick was like. Were they also being forced to be here? They seemed annoyed to have to listen to a child. How long had they been working on this thing?

Peter looked at the floor ahead of him. Percy was right. Hopefully, he could get them all working on something that resembled a weapon of genocide enough to stave off suspicion. He had to find a way out of here. He would make a set of blueprints, all focussing on a different part of the weapon, all resembling the weapon they wanted. He would get the scientists to work on these parts separately as they build Peter a bomb, or an assault rifle, or… something so paralyzing that no one near it will have a chance.

Peter smiled darkly. For once, he saw a way out of here. He might have to still build a weapon of genocide _and_ his weapon of escape and mix up the blueprints to avoid getting caught, but he’d make sure the weapon of genocide was weak and destructible. The scientist won’t think twice about it, and Carrick will be sat on his little stool, thinking he was getting the job done.

The idea once again numbed his brain with a distant memory. He’d seen this before. He wasn’t the first to engineer his was out of captivity, he knew that much. He had a strange feeling, here in the lab. In the midst of his captors, his starvation, his aching body, he felt a strange feeling of fondness. He realized his brain has the audacity to feel comfortable in the lab. Even more so, he realized he had missed it.

Peter shook his head. Harry was in the next room, being experimented on. Percy and Alex were being brainwashed and tortured. Right now, he was their only way of getting out of wherever they were. He had to act fast.

Two words erupted in Peter’s head. They weren’t a thought, because they were said in a man’s voice. No, Peter realized that they were a memory, echoing around Peter’s mind in a revengeful tone.

“_My turn._”

* * *

_“Where are we on Parker’s experimentation?”_

_“Parker? No can do, sir. We just got him started on the weapon.”_

_“So?”_

_“Sir?”_

_“Look, Carrick. Pierce is freaked out. The Avengers have started working together. The wizards are starting to ask questions. We need to hurry this up.”_

_“Sir, I get that, sir, but Parker will be no use to anyone in the lab if he’s being dried out in the other lab.”_

_“Does that look like my problem? The kid’s a genius, so figure it out. I just want him in the experimentation lab with Potter by next week.”_

_“Yes, sir-”_

_“I’m assuming Potter is almost done?”_

_“The scientists say-”_

_“Tell them the have until next week. After that, he’s going into the Winter Soldier Program.”_

_“Yes, sir.”_

_“Questions?”_

_“No. Uh, actually, sir, what’s happening with the others? Is it working?”_

_“It’s slow. They’re stubborn, but they’re weak. It won’t be long now. But for now, all you have to worry about is your two subjects. Get them moving.”_

_“Yes, sir.”_

_“Hail Hydra.”_

_“Hail Hydra.”_


	13. Harry Potter

Harry murmured involuntarily as they stitched him up. He wasn’t absolutely sure that he heard them right, but he kept hearing snippets of their conversations with the guards when they thought he was knocked out. Today was supposed to be his last day of experimentation.

Utter exhaustion was his new normal. Harry felt too heavy for his limbs, and could barely walk anywhere without being dragged. Not that there were many places to walk to; the last two weeks consisted of an unending cycle of his cell, the toilets, the showers, and the Experimentation Room.

The light above him was too bright for his eyes, and he allowed himself to shut them for a little while. He remembered how much he fought back when they first brought him into this room. He tried to find that energy within him now, but if he was honest with himself, he just felt thankful to be alive.

The last two weeks had not been kind to Harry. Everything that made him weak, everything the scientists thought would set him apart as a wizard, was tested.

During the first three days his need for sleep was tested. Or, at least, that’s what Harry figured, because they had not let him sleep during that whole time. He was kept in the Experimentation Room. They had fed him, they had taken his blood in the daily dosages, but whenever he was about to doze off, the room would be filled with blaring alarms, strobe lights, noises so loud they made the equipment clatter. Harry knew they had intended to drag the testing out longer, but when they observed Harry jumping at mere shadows and muttering at the ceiling, they decided he had reached his limit.

Then came his drug tolerance. Harry didn’t remember much from this phase of testing, nor could he pinpoint when it ended- he only knew it lasted five days. They had pumped him with unknown drugs, told him nothing about what he should be feeling or experiencing, and let him back into his cell. Harry often asked his cellmates if they remembered this phase in Harry’s testing and they all said they couldn’t; Harry suspected though, after catching them studying him wearily and jumping when he got up, that they just didn’t want to upset him.

The next six days were dedicated to testing his pain tolerance. He remembered how livid the scientists had been, chatting on about how their testing wasn’t complete without his mental and magical weaknesses tested. Harry assumed Pierce wasn’t up to risking Harry’s memories and abilities returning, so he denied the request. This phase was the first in which Harry had come in contact with Rumlow. The first days were dedicated to blunt force trauma, and so Harry came to hate the man’s presence. Without magic, without enough blood, without the strength to fight back, Harry was merely a punching sac left alone in a room with Rumlow, only to come out limping and aching. It was only after Harry passed out with exhaustion that this phase finally moved on. It was then that he learned that maybe, in this situation, it wasn’t so bad to simply give up in order to stay alive.

The next part of the pain tolerance testing came in form of a scalpel, the pain of which Harry’s mind would not let him remember, even if he wanted to.

Part of him was horrified of how thankful he felt towards the scientists. Now that they were finally done with their experimentation, he would finally be left alone. He was still suffering from the daily blood loss, the lack of sleep, and the healing wounds on his body, and knew he was in trouble physically.

Harry heard the only door to the Experimentation Room swing open. He knew he couldn’t lift his head to see who had come in, so he tried his hardest to focus through the fog in his mind.

“He needs to be out of here now.”

“On who’s orders?”

“Rumlow.”

“Hmph. Well we’re almost done stitching up. Who’s coming?”

“Parker.”

Harry frowned. He could’ve sworn he’d heard that name before.

“The young one?”

“Yep.”

“Excellent. We’ve been itching to get our hands on a mutate for years.”

Harry’s mind clicked into place. They were talking about Peter.

“No,” Harry murmured, barely loud enough to cover his raging thoughts. His mind flashed with memories of his experimentation process. He knew he could not let this happen to Peter. Harry clenched his hands into balls, tugging on his restraints. “You can’t. You can’t! Not Peter-”

One of the scientists, the one Harry had seen control his remote control on the day their abilities had been tested, popped into Harry’s vision, covering the harsh light from the ceiling. The man was in his thirties, with dark hair and a bored expression on his face. He frowned at Harry, and quickly dismissed him by stuffing a large gauze in the wizard’s mouth.

Harry spit the gauze out. His mind was aflame with anger. He couldn’t allow them to experiment on Peter. The kid was too young, even Harry barely survived the process. He tried to get up, to convince them by making a scene, but found himself stuck to the chair with restraints and pure exhaustion.

“Don’t- don’t experiment on… on… Pete-” Harry felt a pinch in his forearm and drifted off into an uneasy rest. His mind’s screaming faded to black; his body fell limp.

* * *

“I think we should act like they have us.”

“They _do_ have us.”

“I mean… this isn’t going to stop unless they think they _have_ us.” A pause. “Percy?”

“They’ll think they won.”

“That’s the point”

“Look, I get what you’re saying, but I hate the idea.”

“I think it might be the only way”

“I know”

“It’s getting too bad. Peter’s not saying-”

“Hold on- Harry’s waking up.”

“Harry, mate. Don’t take out the IV, alright?”

Harry could’ve laid there, listening to them for hours. The floor was cold beneath him. Various wounds on his body were throbbing rhythmically. He thought about ignoring the people talking to him; he just wanted to lay there.

Then he remembered what they had planned with Peter.

“What IV?” He grumbled. He tried to sit up and found the stitches on this torso too tight for the movement. He held up his arms and noticed an IV attached to his left forearm. Harry sighed and dropped his arms. He couldn’t find it within himself to care what was being pumped into him. It barely felt like he even owned his own body anymore.

Harry twisted his neck to see Percy and Alex looking at him.

“You alright?” Alex studied him cautiously. “You look like shit.”

Harry merely hummed in agreement.

“Uh... Harry, any idea where they took Peter? He wasn’t taken by his usual jerks.”

Harry’s heart clenched. He thought of every test they performed on him. He thought of Peter, a kid, being forced to do the same thing.

Anger coursed through his body. He willed himself to breathe slowly, but he didn’t know what for. _This isn’t fair. None of this is fair._

Peter didn’t deserve this.

“Harry?”

Harry shut his eyes tightly. He felt trapped. He felt useless. He felt claustrophobic.

“You don’t look so great.”

He felt tears slip through his closed eyes.

“Yeah, no, sorry.” He tried to stop his face from burning. “They said they were going to start experimenting on Peter last time I heard.” Harry gulped hard, looking at the ceiling. “I guess… I guess they-” he trailed off.

Percy’s mouth dropped in disbelief. Harry tried to look at his cellmates. Two people he hadn’t known existed before all of this.

Percy’s face was hard to look at. He was frozen, but his eyes were livid. It took Harry aback. The look on the boy’s face was one of anger and intimidation. Harry instantly felt like he wanted to crawl to a wall, feeling exposed lying on the floor, helpless.

Alex stood up suddenly. He was pacing, deep in thought. Harry watched him for a moment. He had similar marks on his body as Percy had. His temples were red. His eyes were tired and dark. His wrists, neck, and ankles were encircled deep red.

Alex stopped pacing suddenly and turned to Harry’s cell.

“What did they do to you?”

“Wha’d’you mean?”

“All of it. What are they doing? I’m trying to figure out what the end game is.”

Harry thought back to the experimentation room. He didn’t want to talk about it.

“Tests.”

“What were they testing.”

Harry grumbled to himself. He wanted to turn over and let sleep take him somewhere else.

“Harry…”

“Alright, alright!” Harry glared at Alex. “They took a crap ton of my blood, okay? I don’t remember how much, but they did it for a bloody long time.”

Alex hesitated, his face pale. “Any- anything else?”

“Sleep, drugs, pain; got it?” Harry mumbled. He turned his body around, despite the throbbing pain, and tried to figure out why he was irritated. Maybe he hated how horrified they looked. Maybe it made him feel weak.

“’m sorry, mate.”

Harry grunted.

He heard the boys murmur behind him.

“Why so much blood? The other tests make sense, but they’d have to be screwing with the results by taking so much.”

“They’re trying to make a biological weapon.”

The room fell silent. Harry stopped breathing as the quiet thickened the air.

Harry turned around slowly. “For what?” He croaked.

Percy looked at him, a strange expression on his face. He already knew the answer. They both knew the answer.

Harry didn’t remember much about his life. He knew he was a wizard. He knew about spells and potions. He remembered where he had been and where he grew up.

He didn’t remember if he had a family. He didn’t know if he had a job, or why he was in America.

The one thing he could remember, the one thing he had been holding on to during those sessions in the Experimentation Room, was how much he missed the wizarding world. He couldn’t remember it, but at the core of who he was he must have loved it, because he thought about returning there whenever he thought of home.

He felt stupid, longing for something he had no idea about. He hated Pierce for taking his memories from him. All he knew for sure was that the wizarding world had saved his live. He knew he would feel safe there, whatever it was. He knew from how claustrophobic he was, how familiar the sense of helplessness and inferiority was to him, that being a wizard had changed his life. He felt a rush of grief and anger at how often he felt trapped these days. He needed to go back to where he belonged.

But he couldn’t.

His blood. A biological weapon. Genocide.

Harry felt himself taking breaths, but not releasing them. Panic washed through him. Grief gripped his limbs and shook him. Anger took turns in enflaming him and leaving him cold.

The only place he knew he was safe; the only community he fit into; and he was going to be its downfall.

Harry ignored the words of his cellmates. He drew his knees into his chest and shut his eyes, feeling incredibly empty as the cold, hard floor cooled his cheek.

Betrayal.

He let sleep take him into the comforting darkness, horrified at the thought of what he had done.

* * *

_“Sir, why don’t you start by telling us why you contacted us?”_

_“I heard about your very public search for this Parker boy.”_

_“His name is Peter Parker. Tell us what you want. We’re losing precious time talking to you.”_

_“Tony, relax-”_

_“No, Mr. Rogers, it is quite alright. I admit I too am worried for my missing boy, and therefore respect your haste.”_

_“Your missing boy?”_

_“You have a missing kid?”_

_“Yes. Alex Rider. Here are his case files.”_

_“…A kid spy?”_

_“Mr. Pleasure, why do you think these cases are related?”_

_“Alex is also a high-profile teenager. He is a highly trained spy and would not have been easily taken. He went missing mere days after Peter was kidnapped, and I am deeply concerned that the two cases are related.”_

_“Cap… If they didn’t just want Peter… If they’re collecting kids…”_

_“Tony, we will get to the bottom of this, I promise.”_

_“I know, as a Stark, you likely already have all the resources you need. However, I would like to offer my resources and my time. We already have searches going, we have MI6 involved, but I am afraid that America is more your turf, and therefore I hope to assist you in any way that I can. Please, help me find Alex.”_

_“We will do what we can, sir. Your help is appreciated.”_

_“Uh- why haven’t I heard of Alex being missing before today? Why are the police not involved?”_

_“Alex’s… past employment makes is dangerous for us to be public about his going missing. We worry that any attention drawn to his case will expose him and put him in more danger.”_

_“Thank you, Mr. Pleasure. Is there anything else we should know?”_

_“His past affiliates and cases are all in his file, including his most frequented places. Please be careful with this information- I have no reason to doubt your capabilities, but I need to know the Avengers will work to keep him safe also.”_

_“Of course.”_

_“I would give you my contact information and place of residence, but I believe Mr. Stark has probably already scanned me for this information, including my pristine criminal record, am I correct?”_

_“Tony…”_

_“I’m _so_ not sorry.”_

_“That’s alright, I can appreciate saved time. May I ask if there have been any new leads?”_

_“I have a hunch, but I won’t be sharing that with you at this time. All due respect.”_

_“Tony, we’ve discussed this. It’s not a hunch, it’s radical paranoia.”_

_“Rogers, I swear on your spangly pants, if you question me on this one more time-”_

_“I’m not questioning you, I’m just-”_

_“I’m sorry, how many times have I been right about something, huh? How many times have you thought ‘maybe I should’ve listened to Stark’, huh? I am not discussing this right now.”_

_“Tony-…”_

_“I see this in not the best time, I’ll take my leave. I hope to hear from you two soon, and will contact you if I know anything new.”_

_ “Sorry Mr. Pleasure. We’ll be in touch.”_

_“Edward…”_

_“Yes, Mr. Stark?”_

_“I, uh- I’m sorry about your kid. I want you to know that I won’t rest until we’ve found them.”_

_“Thank you, Mr. Stark. The same goes for me.”_

_“Look at that. You can be civil.”_

_“Put a freedom-stinking sock in it, Rogers. There’s work to do.”_


	14. Alex Rider

“I think we should act like they have us.”

The atmosphere in the cells were tense. Something felt off. The guards were being clumsy, talking about things in front of the boys; being harsher and senseless in their punishments. Harry was still unconscious in his cell, having been delivered there hours ago with an IV in his arm- which had never happened before. They had just watched Peter being taken out of his cell by Harry’s usual guys. Something was happening. Pierce was nervous.

It made Alex feel extremely unsettled.

Percy was in his cell, walking in random shapes around the room. He was fidgeting, and Alex could feel the anxious energy come off him. The guy never stood _still_. Alex was sure he’d never met anyone like Percy before. The two of them were so different.

Percy turned to Alex at his suggestion, eyebrow raised. “They _do_ have us.”

“I mean… this isn’t going to stop unless they think they _have_ us.” Alex watched Percy as he said this. He hadn’t known the guy for long, but he already knew he would hate the idea. It was another area where Alex and Percy were polar opposites. Alex believed in doing the necessary evils; Percy wanted nothing to do with any sort of ‘grey area’. Alex could tell Percy was wicked smart and astute- he could see that by how he was able to verbally throw the guards around; he always knew how to get out of something. The guy was also pretty strong and powerful; Alex knew that by what he’d seen in the Testing Arena, and by how Percy handled the aftermath of his… sessions. Percy was a good person to be locked up with, definitely, but the guy had no self-preservation. He’d take the fall for his cellmates. He’d wind up the guards to get their attention off the others. He was incredibly stubborn and hated authority, or feeling trapped.

Alex watched as Percy stopped walking, facing away from Alex. He was thinking about what the younger boy was suggesting, and Alex could tell it was going to be an issue for him. “Percy?”

“They’ll think they won.”

“That’s the point”

Percy sat on the floor, trying to hide how uneasy he felt at the idea. “Look, I get what you’re saying, but I hate the idea.”

“I think it might be the only way,” Alex stated softly, looking closely at the demigod’s face.

Percy sighed. “I know”

“It’s getting too bad. Peter’s not saying-”

“Hold on- Harry’s waking up.”

And there it was again. Every time Alex treaded near the subject of Peter and what they were doing to him, Percy would find something to distract from the topic.

Alex looked over at Harry, finding Percy to be right. His eyes were slightly open, and his glasses were askew. The wizard looked terrible. His shirt had hitched up when he was thrown into his cell, so Alex and Percy had seen the cuts and bruises scattered all over his torso. His skin was swollen around the various stitches, and it looked like he was too exhausted to even move.

“Harry, mate. Don’t take out the IV, alright?”

Harry’s eyes closed slightly. Alex thought he’d fallen back to sleep before his neck craned to look over his body.

“What IV?” Alex watched the boy try to sit up, only to flop back on the floor. Harry lifted his arms, then let them drop back to the floor too. The guy looked so bone-tired; Alex almost told him to go back to sleep. That was until Harry turned to look at him and Percy.

“You alright?” Alex couldn’t tell if he wanted to know what Harry had been through or not. “You look like shit.”

“Mmm…”

Percy stood up, watching Harry worriedly. Alex knew it bothered Percy to see any of them being in a bad way. “Uh... Harry, any idea where they took Peter? He wasn’t taken by his usual jerks.”

Alex wouldn’t have seen it if he hadn’t been watching Harry closely. The guy was already dangerously pale, but, at Percy’s question, his face lost the little blood it still had.

“Harry?” Percy walked to Harry as the wizard’s eyes closed. The demigod almost walked into his cell wall, as if he’d forgotten he was trapped. He pushed off the glass in frustration.

Alex turned his attention back on Harry. He’d seen the boy like this before. Just before their abilities had been tested. When they had been put in a room together.

_“Claustrophobic?”_

_“Apparently.”_

_“What do you think’s next?”_

_“Er- honestly, I’ve no idea. I just hope we get out of here soon before I get a banging headache.”_

Alex wished he could do something. Harry didn’t look well enough to be trapped like this. He needed medical help. “You don’t look so great.”

“Yeah, no, sorry.” Harry said as tears fell out of his eyes. Alex’s heart pounded. “They said they were going to start experimenting on Peter last time I heard.” The wizard gulped hard, looking at the ceiling. “I guess… I guess they-” he trailed off, looking at Alex and Percy desperately.

Alex felt a wave of anger wash through him and stood up quickly to expel it. He wasn’t even sure what he felt angry towards, but now was not the time to be reckless. He paced around the room, feeling his feeling of uselessness flow out of him at every step. He needed to think.

Pierce wanted to destroy the wizards. Why did he need Harry? _Probably to find some kind of weakness he could use against the wizards._ Why all the blood then? Why did his testing last such a long time? Why are they testing on Peter? _To find out what he is? No… they already did genetic testing on us all when we got here- they know what he is_. Maybe they want to get rid of his kind too… _That would be an absolute bloodshed._ What are they even testing? What could they possibly need that they didn’t have before? What do they need it for?

Alex stopped pacing suddenly and turned to Harry’s cell.

“What did they do to you?”

Alex’s heart squirmed as Harry looked up at him. The guy just looked _so exhausted_. “Wha’d’you mean?”

“All of it. What are they doing? I’m trying to figure out what the end game is.”

Harry thought for a moment, his face hard; then: “Tests.”

Alex frowned. “What were they testing.”

Harry grumbled to himself moodily.

“Harry…” Alex repeated quietly. He felt like he was poking a dragon or something. He briefly wondered if dragons existed now that he knew about Greek gods and wizards.

“Alright, alright!” Harry were bloodshot as he glared at Alex. “They took a crap ton of my blood, okay? I don’t remember how much, but they did it for a bloody long time.”

Alex hesitated, feeling sick. “Any- anything else?”

“Sleep, drugs, pain; got it?” Harry mumbled, clearly agitated.

Alex instantly regretted asking him and decided to drop it as the wizard turned with his back to the boys. He quietly apologized while glancing at Percy, who had a far-off look in his eyes.

Harry only grunted.

Alex tried to get Percy’s attention. Part of him felt like he should drop the subject until he knew Harry was asleep. Another part of him, though, needed answers. He kept his voice low as he asked, “why so much blood? The other tests make sense, but they’d have to be screwing with the results by taking so much.”

Percy was still distracted. Almost robotically, he replied, “they’re trying to make a biological weapon.”

For a heavy two minutes, no one spoke. Alex’s mind was reeling, going a hundred of kilometers per hour with this new information. The tests, the blood. He wondered how Percy knew that. He wondered if Peter knew.

Something clicked into place. The thing Percy wouldn’t talk about. What Peter was doing while he was gone. Was it all related?

“For what?”

Alex jumped. He hadn’t noticed Harry turn around again. The expression on the wizard’s face was heartbreaking.

The cells stayed silent after that.

* * *

“Look. I can tell this is wearing both of us out. How about we give it a rest for tod-”

_Wack_.

Alex grunted, trying to shake the dizziness out of his head.

“You and Jackson.” Rumlow snorted maliciously. “Just keep coming with these stupid jokes. I swear I’ll beat it out of you.”

Alex spat out the blood in his mouth, aiming for Rumlow’s shoes. “Why don’t you believe I’m just trying to look out for you?”

A gut punch. Alex was saved from falling to the ground by the two guards holding his arms back.

He forced himself to stop thinking about why he was being a smartass. He had decided with Percy to act docile, pretend the torture had worked. He was supposed to act like they had him.

_You’re just scared of the chair. Beating over torture any day._

“Shut up.” He murmured.

“What was that?” Rumlow smiled.

_Coward._

“I’m not a- _oof._” Alex felt his stomach contract as he was hit in the gut again. He tasted acid in his mouth. His esophagus contorted as he vomited on the ground in front of him.

Rumlow stepped back, expressionless. “Oh, come on guys. Who fed him before his session?”

Alex was hunched over. His eyes were clamped shut, waiting for the pain in his stomach to wash away.

“He wasn’t scheduled until later,” he heard someone say.

“New schedule. We’re trying to hurry this thing up. No feeding him before sessions, understood?”

The guards murmured in the affirmative.

“Okay then.” Rumlow pushed Alex’s head down even more as he walked past. “Into the chair.”

Those words jolted through Alex. He looked up at Rumlow, sneering at him. “You’re insane.”

Rumlow walked back to Alex, smiling. He patted the boy’s bruised cheek, making him wince. “So they say.”

Alex looked at the man with all the hatred in the world. He felt his body grow hot in anger and fear.

Rumlow turned to Alex’s guards. “Strap him up tight. I think we’ll turn it up today.”

_“Rest. Secrets. Cornwall. Initiation. Fourteen. Nine. Hiding. Ark Angel. Six. Mansion.”_

* * *

Alex was completely delirious as the guards dragged Alex back to his cell from the Programming Room. He fought to stay awake, but it took him all the strength he had left. His feet dragged behind him on the floor.

Alex only remembered pieces of the torture. It was bad this time- worse than usual. He remembered the pain, the shock; he remembered convulsing, the white lab coats.

The guards’ voices made his head pound.

“What’s up with the schedule recently? Did you know it changed?”

“Nope. No one told me.”

“They never tell us anything.”

“I asked the lab guy. They’re going harder and faster on the programming.”

“Why? Is Pierce freaked again?”

“Apparently Stark is close.”

“Bullshit. No one told you that”

“Oh yeah? I’m on Main Office duty this week. Guess what else I heard.”

“Shoot”

“You know that hurricane? The really big one heading this way?”

“Yeah?”

“Pierce thinks it’s the gods getting mad. He’s getting paranoid.”

“Yeah right.”

“You don’t believe it?”

“I don’t believe in _Greek gods. _I’ll only believe it when I see it, and I haven’t.”

“You saw the Jackson kid with the water, genius.”

“Some kind of trick, I don’t care. And Pierce is always freaked out- the Avengers have no idea where we are; never will.”

“Ask Rumlow. I overheard them talking about it.”

“You know I’m not going to ask Rumlow, you idiot.”

“Hmph. Suit yourself.”

There was silence as the guards entered the passcodes to the various doors and dragged Alex through. He felt his stomach flip as they went down in the elevator.

On the journey down, one of the guards swore.

“What?” The other asked.

“We were supposed to take him to the doctors.”

“Why? The seizure?”

“Yeah”

“Fuck… Well I’m not taking him all the way back.”

“Let’s just get one of the others to watch him. He should be fine.”

All these words flew right over Alex’s head. He was staring at the floor, completely limp. He had no idea where he was or what they were going on about.

The spoked door was opened. Alex was thrown into his cell.

“You! Jackson!”

“What now?”

“Watch him. He had a seizure. Make sure he stays alive.”

“What? How am I supposed to help from here? He needs a doctor!”

“Shut up and do it.”

“He needs help, you idiots! Get him to a-”

The door was shut once more.

“Alex. Alex! Are you awake?”

Alex didn’t know. He thought he was awake. He couldn’t tell if he was scared… or angry… or confused. He forgot who was talking to him. The floor felt hard against his stomach. His cheek was throbbing against the concrete. He grimaced. He wasn’t sure about this, but he may have forgotten his own name.

“Alex! Stay with me here.”

“That me?” Alex grumbled into the ground. His mind was spinning.

He heard a sigh of relief. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re Alex Rider. Um… You’re from East London, and… uh, I think you told me to tell you that your uncle’s name was Ian and that you were both spies. You’re fifteen, and you just came back from a session. You had a seizure, so take it easy.”

Alex frowned as his mind cleared up.

After they noticed that the sessions were beginning to make them lose their memories, Alex and Percy came up with a list of things to remind each other of after every session. The list wasn’t long, but it was all they had. Alex shook his head trying to sit up without feeling dizzy. He looked around, noticing that all the cells were occupied. That was rare these days. Harry and Peter were asleep in their cells, so Alex made a note to speak quietly.

“A seizure?” Alex asked. “’s that why my head blimmin’ hurts?”

“Probably, buddy. How are you feeling?”

Alex looked at Percy. The guy only ever said ‘buddy’ when he was really worried. He was sat as close to Alex as he could, his knees turning white as they squeezed against the glass. His eyebrows were deeply furrowed, and his foot was bouncing under his knee.

“Fried- literally,” Alex replied in the other boy’s thick accent.

Percy smiled slightly. “Tell me what your name is.”

“Frank Lampard.”

Percy snorted. “Wise girl” he mumbled.

“Wise girl?”

“What?”

“You just called me wise girl”

“I said wise guy.”

“I’ve always wondered what it was like to be a girl.”

Percy laughed. “Shut up, I did not say wise girl”

“Alright, alright. Ask again,” Alex smirked.

“What’s your name?”

“Alexis Rider.”

Percy rolled his eyes. “Okay, you’re definitely okay, _Miss Rider_.”

Alex laughed, trying not to wake Harry or Peter up. Suddenly, he remembered something; something that had been at the back of his mind since he got to his cell.

“Hey, Percy?”

“Alex?” Percy replied, his back now on the ground, staring up.

“I overheard the guards talking…”


	15. Percy Jackson

_“We have a problem.”_

_“I don’t need any problems, Rumlow. Smooth it out.”_

_“It’s Hera, sir. She’s trying to find Jackson.”_

_“How do you know?”_

_“We tried moving him to the training phase with Rider. They’re both ready. But since he’s stopped the therapy he sleepwalks and has a constant headache during the day. He gets knocked out in training easy. All of this is not like what we’ve seen from him. I think its Hera.”_

_“This could just be the aftereffects of Electroconvulsive The-”_

_“No, sir. I’m sure of it. This is what he was like when she knocked him out at the police station. This has Hera written all over it.”_

_“If you are sure- move him back to phase three.”_

_“Yes, sir.”_

_“Good work, Rumlow.”_

* * *

_“Perseus!”_

_It was an urgent whisper, clanging through his mind like a loose firework. _

_Percy groaned and swatted away the sound, as if it were somehow tangible, desperate to have one night free of nightmares. _

_“Perseus- we don’t have much time!”_

_A wave of disturbed and unchecked emotion hit him. All at once he was anxious, furious, scared, and betrayed. He felt watched, he felt desperate, he felt… hungry for tin cans?_

_Percy sat up. He knew he was dreaming, but he was in the same cell that he had fallen asleep in. The lights were off in his dream, which was unusual. He looked around, trying to see who had spoken to him. A faint smell of wet fur lingered in the air. He squinted into Alex’s cell; he could’ve sworn the kid had grown long, curly blonde hair overnight. _

_His heart tightened. In Peter’s cell, sleeping in the same position as Peter had been sleeping in, was a guy wearing a green cap and a tie-dyed shirt. In Harry’s cell, a huge boy was sleeping, facing away from him, with a bright orange shirt covering his back. _

_Percy swallowed hard. He didn’t know who these people were, but he knew he’d lost them. He looked again in Alex’s cell. He lost them, and he needed them back._

_Percy drew in a shaky breath. “What do you want?”_

_“An exchange.” Percy looked around frantically to see where the voice was coming from. “It’s almost too late.”_

_“Who are you?”_

_Percy felt impatience wash over him. “Never mind who I am, boy!” Percy had to shake his head to stop the echoing in his mind. “I had to recover this buried Link between you and the Satyr- I am powerless to reach you otherwise.” The voice became aggravated, Percy’s cell shook: “it was supposed to stay buried. The plan must go-”_

_The room stopped shaking. Percy felt the voice calm its rage, but it did little to soothe the anger. “You must escape, boy. I will help you in any way that I can, but I am being watched on all fronts.”_

_Percy frowned. He didn’t recognize this voice. He didn’t understand what it was or how it was talking to him. The electroconvulsive therapy had stolen his knowledge of the gods, memories of how he’d ended up in this cell, it had even taken his own name from him. Everything Percy knew came from his cellmates. “Look. I don’t know what you want or who you even are. I must be crazy for speaking to you right now, but can you just let me sleep for one-”_

_Percy gasped as the air was pulled out of his lungs. For a moment he remained there, sat on the floor, not breathing. _

_He could feel the despair in the voice as it bargained with him: “If you come back to me, I will let you keep _her_”_

_On the last word, Percy drew in a new breath. The air was thick. It tasted like lemons and metal. It smelled like leather and parchment paper. It sounded melodic, like a laugh in the breeze, and it felt fierce and stubborn. _

_Percy stood up immediately. He looked into Alex’s cell; it was empty. He closed his eyes desperately- whatever he’d just felt, he needed it again. He needed to see it again._

_There she was. Stormy, deep grey eyes. Honey blonde curls. An aura of surety and sagacity._

_“_Annabeth_” he breathed in relief. His heart ached. It had waited too long to say that name again. “Where is she? It she okay?”_

_“You must get out of here. You must do it soon.”_

_Percy still didn’t know who the voice was, but he begrudgingly agreed with it. He needed to see Annabeth again. He needed to get Peter, Alex, and Harry out of here. _

_Percy felt the voice getting anxious. “They are getting suspicious,” it whispered to itself. “Perseus,” the urgency in the voice was pleading, “where you are now, I cannot go. I will meet you again in your dreams. You must get out of here, you have another purpose to fulfill elsewhere- the realms depend on it.”_

_Percy frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that. “How are we supposed to-”_

_“I must go. I will help you in any way that I can. For now, remember the girl. _Leave this place!_”_

* * *

“Jackson!”

Percy bolted upright as his door was opened. He glared at the guards, realizing suddenly that they were his old guards- the ones responsible for taking him to and from the Programming Room.

“You guys again?” Percy’s eyes tried to adjust to the harsh light as he stood up. “What, you miss me too much?”

“Stop talking” one of the guards hissed.

Percy opened his mouth to retaliate but remembered what Alex had told him. _Act like they have you._

He glanced into Alex’s cell and was almost disappointed to see the boy, still asleep on the floor. Last night’s dream haunted him.

_Annabeth_. He had to see her again.

He heard Peter groaning from his cell and turned to look at the boy. Another set of guards was pulling Peter through his cell door. The poor kid could barely stand. Percy’s stomach twisted. The boy was being forced to make a weapon of mass genocide and being experimented on at the same time. They barely gave him time to sleep between the two labs he was being switched into. He was pale and skinny, still not being fed more than bread and water, and his eyes were shadowed with purple bags.

Percy couldn’t stand to see it any longer. “Hey, _hey_!” He called to Peter’s guards, trying to look at them over his own guards. “You’re taking him again? Give him a break! The guy’s exhausted-”

Percy grunted. One of his guards had punched him in the stomach. He hated when they did that; there was nothing to vomit, so he just lurched painfully.

“I _said_ no talking!”

“Look,” Percy held up a hand, still doubled over. “He’s just a kid, and we all know he’s Spiderman, so why can’t-”

He felt his lip split before he realized he’d been punched again. Percy shook his head. Blood touched his taste buds. He hadn’t even seen that punch coming. Where were his instincts?

He looked up, glaring at his guards. “Why are you guys here anyway? Where are the other douches?”

One of the guards grabbed Percy’s collar and threw him out of his cell. “You’ve been demoted, smartass. Back to the chair for you.”

His partner chuckled darkly.

“What?” Percy tried to hide the quiver in his voice. His heart raced. “But I was moved to training, I-”

“Kid, one more word out of you and I swear you’ll be begging for the chair.”

Percy heard the huge metal door squeal open and watched Peter being marched through it. The kid was half-asleep. Now out of his cell, Percy could see the bruises on the boy’s face. No matter how the kid cooperated with his guards, they seemed to have it in for him.

Percy’s entourage followed Peter’s through the door. One of Percy’s guards closed the metal door behind them as they waited for the elevator to come back downstairs.

* * *

“Percy?”

He was staring at the ceiling, just wanting to be alone.

The last session had almost taken Annabeth from him. He desperately thought about her hair, her laugh, her expressions. He knew that if he wanted to keep her, he would have to tell his cellmates about her so they could remind him, but part of him just wanted something for himself; something he didn’t have to share.

Not that he had much else to give. Percy felt like a failure. They’d been here for a month now, and they were severely changed.

Alex was the perfect soldier. He excelled in training and in taking orders. He ate food quietly and spoke as little as he could. Percy knew what Alex was doing, but a small part of him was afraid that he would lose himself. There was a cold behind the younger boy’s eyes that didn’t discriminate between the guards and his cellmates, and Percy wouldn’t blame the boy if he had simply resorted to survival mode.

Harry was completely withdrawn. The experimentation, the beatings, the Electroconvulsive Therapy were simply too much for him. He kept to himself mostly, a dark look on his face, and Percy knew that he had come to the end of his wits. Sometimes, when he was able to catch the boy’s eye, he saw such hopelessness there. The wizard was mourning the inevitable. He was helpless to save his kind, and he blamed himself for enabling the genocide of his people. He blamed himself, and he blamed Peter Parker.

“Hm?” Percy twisted his neck to look at Peter.

Peter was suffering- anyone could see that. Percy heart clenched painfully as he saw the dark bags under the kid’s eyes. His wrists were thin, his clothes were too big. The boy was scared and hungry and exhausted and in a bad way. The way his brown eyes studied Percy’s face, almost desperately, gave him away. The kid felt guilty about the weapon, about not getting his friends out fast enough, about messing things up. Percy was the only person who showed Peter any kind of affection, and the kid craved it- although he would never admit that out loud.

“It’s finished.”

Percy shut his eyes and turned back to facing the ceiling. He had been dreading those words, and he knew Peter had too.

“The-they don’t know it’s done yet, and I’m almost finished with ours, but… but…”

There it was again. The anger; the adrenaline. He wanted nothing more than to break them all out of here; to fight through their captors and feel powerful again- or even just _useful_. He hated seeing Harry, Peter, Alex, all of them suffer and be powerless to stop it. He thought of the friends he couldn’t remember, and his parents he didn’t know the names of. He felt like he was just a pawn in a giant plan, and he hated it.

“Percy.”

_You have to fix this._

Percy sat up and moved to the wall, as close to Peter as he could. The younger boy looked up at him, unsure of what he was going to say.

“Peter, none of this is your fault.”

Peter stared up at Percy from the floor, his mouth slightly open. For a couple of minutes he just stared at Percy, breathing deeply. Then, his eyes became slightly wet and he dropped his head.

“Peter…” Percy knew he was no good at comforting, but he also knew how the kid felt; like the world was on his shoulders, like it was all up to him. Percy sat, crossed-legged, close to the glass wall. “Come over here.”

Peter was still for a couple of minutes, then he shuffled over to where Percy was. He didn’t lift his head, but instead leant his forehead on the glass between him and Percy. His eyes were closed and his back moved in time with his deep breaths, as if he was willing himself not to cry.

“It’s really not your fault. Hey, none of this is.”

Peter shook his head against the glass. He sniffed quietly, not wanting to wake the others up.

Percy could tell by how Peter was leaning against the glass that the kid was exhausted. They only gave him a couple of hours between sessions these days.

Peter used his worn-out sweater to wipe his face angrily. “’m not crying, ‘m just… tired.”

“I know, man.” Percy said softly. “Get some sleep.”

Peter frowned under his hair. “Can’t. Keep thinking about…”

A beat of silence passed between them.

“Did…” Percy sighed as he turned around, his side leaning against the glass. He half-hoped Peter would do the same, so the boy wouldn’t fall asleep on his forehead. “Did I ever tell you about Annabeth?”

His heart ached when he said her name. It was weird, but it felt like he was giving away the last thing that was exclusively his.

“Annabeth?” Peter answered. Percy smiled as the boy imitated his movement. For a moment they almost forgot there was a wall of glass between them. For a moment they were just chatting, leaning against each other, while Percy talked Peter to sleep.

“Annabeth.” Percy repeated, looking forward. “She’s my best friend, and I think she might be my girlfriend.”

“Yeah?” Peter leant deeper into the wall, eyes closing slowly.

“She’s crazy smart, like you.” Percy barked a quiet laugh. “You guys would get on so well…”

Percy talked about her until Peter fell asleep reluctantly. The more Percy talked about Annabeth, the more he remembered about her. He only had small bits of memory, but he must have described her well, because Peter had sleepily muttered that he really wanted to meet her. Percy had smiled sadly. He desperately wanted to meet Annabeth too. He wondered, sat there next to a sleeping Spiderman, if he ever would. Familiar, overwhelming longing filled the seventeen-year-old boy. He was too tired to cry, and found himself drifting off to a disturbed sleep.

* * *

“_Hey, Spidey. Parker, get up!_”

Percy’s eyes opened immediately when he heard Peter grunt.

They had only been asleep for a little while, and now the guards were back to drag Peter back to whichever lab he was going off to. The two idiots in question were in Peter’s cell, roughing the kid up because he wasn’t responding fast enough for them.

This wasn’t unusual. In the last couple of days, Pierce, Rumlow, all the guards that came in contact with Peter showed him no mercy. They kept saying something about ‘the Avengers being on their trail’ and that it was somehow Peter’s fault. Percy knew Peter was powerless as to what went on outside of this hole, but their captives wanted a scapegoat to take it out on.

Percy’s fingers twitched. He knew he should be acting like a good soldier, ready to do their will. He should be quiet and ignore Peter’s treatment so that they thought he was finally trustworthy…

But he’d never been great at following orders.

“Hey, douchbag,” Percy stood up and stared at the guards from his cell. “Did your parent’s not love you or something, huh? Some unresolved mommy issues? You need to feel big and strong, is that it?”

The guard that had kicked Peter smiled viscously. He turned to his partner and whispered something to him, then took something from his partner’s hands.

The guard turned back to Percy and left Peter’s cell as his partner dragged Peter to the thick, metal door, opening it by himself.

Percy raised an eyebrow at the guard in front of him, just glad that they had stopped beating on Peter. He forced himself not to shiver when the guard smiled again.

“You’re such a piece of shit Jackson.” The guard laughed lightly, but cruelly. “You really think you’re in any position to say _anything_ right now?”

The man took what his partner had given to him out of his pocket. Percy’s face remained unimpressed, but his heartbeat accelerated when he realized it was a remote for his collar.

Percy heard the metal door screeching shut, leaving just enough space for another person. The guard wiggled the device in front of Percy teasingly. “That’s right, you thought we forgot about this? Here- let me show you how big and strong I actually am.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw Alex stir. For a moment he wished Alex would say something. For a moment, he wished there was a way to overpower the guard and slip through the open door. He wished for anything, anything else.

Then, he only wished for it to stop.

* * *

_“Tony?”_

_“Hey, Pepp…”_

_“Hey… hey… I miss him too.”_

_“I just… I feel like I’m letting the kid down.”_

_“Tony, it’s only been a month-”_

_“Exactly. It’s been a whole month! And… and I, I just, I just can’t get a single piece of… just a _single_ piece of-”_

_“Tony- tony, I know. I know.”_

_“I just know it’s them. I _know_ it’s them. I’ve been following them for days and I know I’m right!”_

_“From what Steve tells me, you have them scared pretty good.”_

_“No thanks to him.”_

_“Hmm. They must have friends in high places, huh?”_

_“I don’t care. When this is done, I’m bringing them all down. I am burning them all to the ground. I’m making sure that, that they-…”_

_“Honey?”_

_“I don’t even know what they want with him, Pepp.”_

_“Oh, Tony”_

_“What if the kid isn’t okay?”_

_“One thing is for sure. When we get Peter back, we are covering him in bubble wrap and putting a tracker on everything he owns.”_

_“Mmm… Including the kid?”_

_“Including the kid. He is never getting away from us again.”_


	16. Peter Parker

“Testing 1, subject: Harry Potter, control subject: Peter Parker. Subjects are being brought in now and have been restrained.”

“Harry-”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“You have to trust me!”

“Ha. I don’t have to do a single blimmin’ thing, you-”

“Shut both your mouths.”

Rumlow stood in front of them, a bored expression on his face. The three of them and a few more guards were in the Experimentation Room. The chair and the tool table stood by them, now joined by two pairs of shackles, hanging from the ceiling. Peter and Harry’s arms were in the air, limply hanging from the handcuffs. They had been dragged into the room and restrained mere minutes ago, but Peter’s arm were already sore.

His arms, however, were the least of his worries.

He should’ve known that they would test his weapon first, but he didn’t realize it would happen like this. He knew the weapon was functional and that it could do Harry serious harm if Rumlow used it wrong.

It looked like a gun, but it was much more than that. The weapon, when activated, released gas with enough pressure to cover a football field in seconds when dialed to the maximum power. The gas consisted of a virus that was designed to work like a vicious auto-immune disease, specifically targeted for the magical gene; if it senses magic, it attacks it. The gas itself is not strong enough to kill, but it works quickly enough to permanently damage the magic gene, leaving the Wizarding World defenseless.

Right now, the dial was turned to its lowest setting. By Peter’s calculations, this should only weaken Harry, and temporarily paralyze his magical abilities. Peter prayed to every god out there that he was right.

“Is everyone ready?” Rumlow was looking at Peter and Harry, but he was talking to the window behind him. On the other side of that window, Peter knew Pierce and the collection of the scientists Peter had worked with were eagerly awaiting the beginning of the trial. Rumlow heard two knocks on the window and nodded, adjusting his grip on the weapon.

Peter felt nauseous. He looked at Harry nervously and saw that the boy was sickly pale. Shame flooded through Peter, making him hot. He was responsible for this. If this trial went badly, if something went very wrong, Harry might lose a part of him that made him whole, that made him part of something. Peter’s heart tugged with guilt. He knew how that felt; he didn’t know why, but that didn’t matter. Harry had every right to hate him.

Everyone in the room that was not shackled to the ceiling was ordered to put on their gas masks. The first trial was in motion.

Peter eyed the weapon- specifically, the one part of the gun that made it unique from other rifles. Where the magazine should be was a glass tube filled with a glowing, purple liquid. Peter’s pocket instantly felt heavier. He had made another substance for the gun to target; this one was a black poison, one that hungered for the destruction of anyone that breathed it in.

Peter looked at Harry again as Rumlow lifted the gun unnecessarily. He could aim that gun anywhere in the room and it would still fill the whole space. The thought made Peter uneasy again, and he desperately wanted Harry to understand what his plan was.

“Harry-”

_Pop._

It sounded unassuming, like a Christmas cracker. Something flew between Peter and Harry’s heads.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, Harry cringed in pain.

Peter looked at his feet and saw purple smoke rising up to his legs slowly. Suddenly, the smells hit him all at once.

Steel. Icy rain. Rotting flesh.

The smoke reached Harry’s torso. The boy’s eyes were wide open, as was his mouth, as if he couldn’t believe what was happening to him. Peter stared at the boy, horrified, as all the wizard could say was: “uh…” before he whimpered and fell slack in his shackles.

The whole thing lasted about forty seconds.

Percy looked up. He and the rest of the people in the room were unaffected. He saw Rumlow give a thumbs up to the window behind him, and a minute later, Pierce and the scientists piled into the room, the purple smoke still diffusing into the space.

Peter took another look at Harry, dismayed of what he had done. He wondered if the boy was still alive.

“Check his vitals.” A voice rang out excitedly. Pierce.

Peter watched as two guards unshackled Harry and dragged him to the chair, which was swarmed with intrigued scientists. Peter felt sick at their excitement. Someone turned on a ventilator that he hadn’t noticed before, and soon the purple smoke was no more, followed several minutes by its stench.

Harry was tied down to the chair and attached to all sorts of machines. A small blood sample was taken from the wizard and transferred to a nearby microscope to be studied.

Peter watched all this happen, his heart pounding in his throat. _Did I just murder Harry Potter?_

_Pierce and Rumlow were watching Peter closely. They were beyond impressed, and were glad that the genius had proven he was worth the trouble of having the Avengers on their backs. The kid was an incredible asset. Pierce’s mind was reeling with all the things Peter could be useful for._

“His vitals are functional.”

Peter sagged against his shackles in relief. He looked at Harry, pale and sleeping. He wanted to call out to him, to ask if he was okay.

“Bloodwork shows that his magical gene is still functional, but under severe attack. It has temporarily shut down due to this attack, but we expect a full recovery by the end of the day.”

The statement echoed through Peter’s foggy thoughts. He looked up at Pierce and found the man eyeing him. Peter swallowed hard.

After a few moments, Pierce walked over to Peter, who felt extremely vulnerable with his arms in the air.

“Extremely impressive, Parker.” Pierce put a hand on the back of Peter’s neck and squeezed hard. “Glad to see that you’re worth all this trouble.” Pierce pushed Peter away, leaving the boy to regain his footing so as to take the pressure off his handcuffed wrists. “Guards, take them back to their cells. Mission A will commence tomorrow. We are already behind schedule.”

The scientists stirred uncomfortably. As Peter was being released from his restraints, he heard a scientist speak up uneasily. “Sir. We only did one trial. It would be a good idea to do at least-”

Peter glanced at Pierce after he realized the man had gone quiet. The heat emitting from his glower was enough to make some of the scientists cower. “Mission A will commence tomorrow.” He repeated. Then, with as much venom in his voice as he could muster, he uttered, “we are already behind schedule.”

* * *

There is was. Their first target as a team.

Already from the outside, it looked like an impressive building. The architecture was both gothic and modern, giving off the impression that the building itself was here to stay. It towered over the four boys, the endless glass windows glittering in the sun, and the white columns glaring at the busy pedestrians below. There was no name to mark the building, but everyone knew what is was: The Woolworth’s building.

_“Your first mission as a team will be to trigger this weapon inside this building.”_

_Alexander Pierce stood in front of the boys. They were all clad in new clothing and connected earpieces. Even their collars had been taken off, only to be replaced by a miniature version on their wrists._

_Percy was dressed smartly, as if he was going to an important interview. His hair was combed, and his light blue tie contrasted his black dress shirt and his dark grey dress pants. The guy looked incredibly uncomfortable in his clothes._

_Harry was dressed in a delivery personnel outfit. He had on a tan shirt and matching pants. A black baseball cap covered his hair._

_Alex and Peter were dressed like schoolboys from a local private school. Peter found the green blazers unnecessarily flashy and unimportant to the plan, but he had no choice in the matter._

_“We will drop you all off in different areas of the city. You will converge here, a block away from the target, when you are sure you are not being followed.” Pierce pointed to several areas on the map that was unravelled on the wall._

_“Rumlow will go over ways with which you can shake a tail in one moment. This operation should take only thirty minutes. If any of you are caught, or run away, or alert anyone, the rest of your teammates will be severely punished- is that understood?”_

_The boys remained still._

_“Good.” Pierce was handed a long package by a nearby guard. He smiled at Harry callously as he gave the boy the package. “Potter, you’ll be handling the weapon today. When the time comes, you will unwrap the weapon and give it to Parker to activate.”_

Peter saw the package now, held tightly in the white hands of the wizard.

Harry had barely recovered from his exposure to the weapon before he had been forced into his new clothes. The boy still looked ill, but this didn’t stop him from ignoring Peter’s questions to him.

_“Harry. Hey, Harry, are you okay?”_

_“Jeez, what happened to him?”_

_“I think he’s awake now.”_

_Harry groaned, holding his head as if he had a migraine. He looked up slowly, his eyes squinting in the light. He groaned again when he realized he was back in his cell. As soon as he saw Peter, however, something inside him woke up._

_Harry jumped to his feet, stumbling where he stood. The movement was so fast, Peter stepped back in surprise. “You built a working weapon that could get rid of the whole entire Wizarding World?” _

_It wasn’t a question. It was an accusation._

_Peter stammered. “I- I, I’m-m”_

_“You just made it possible for these _lunatics_ to get rid of everything I love. _Everything!_”_

_Peter’s heart dropped to his feet._

_“Harry, dude,” Percy looked unsure of what to do. “I know this is horrible, and I promise we’ll find a way out of this, but you know that Peter didn’t have a choice.”_

_Harry hadn’t looked away from Peter. “Not a choice, huh? How about refusing to make it?”_

_Peter thought back to the beginning, when he had refused to make the weapon, only for them to threaten him with Harry’s pain._

_“I was trying to… uh…” Peter somehow didn’t think that Harry would appreciate his reasoning behind why the weapon was made. The boy’s green eyes were aflame with anger._

_“You what? You were _what_?”_

_Peter flinched at the hatred in Harry’s words. Still, a part of him was glad that he was finally getting what he deserved for making a weapon like that. _

_“Harry, that’s enough.” Percy looked at Harry sternly. “I know you’re angry, but don’t make this Peter’s fault. We’ve all been forced to do things here that we would never do.”_

_“Oh yeah?” Harry whispered. “Anyone else here build something that could wipe out an entire race of people?”_

_“Guys.” _

_The three boys looked at Alex, surprised. The boy didn’t speak much anymore, and they hadn’t expected him to do so now._

_“We need to stick together, and we need to act broken. Come on, we’ve been through this.” Peter looked at the spy carefully, noticing his demeanour had changed from his cold and calculating aura. For a moment, Peter saw the young boy he had met a month ago; serious but charismatic. He ogled at the boy’s ability to change his behavior so absolutely. “They are letting us out on a mission- we’re almost there. A couple more of these and we’re getting out of here.”_

The four of them were stood outside of the building, waiting for the ‘go’ from their earpieces. They were sure that no one had followed them, but Pierce wanted to be sure before they continued with their plan.

Peter looked ahead at the building. With his power-draining collar off and his electrocuting bracelet on instead, his senses were very alive. As soon as he had stepped outside of wherever they were being kept, his senses started drinking in as much information as they could- even under the burlap sack over his head, which had been taken off inside the van. Peter could easily imagine himself getting overwhelmed with all this information, but, after week without it, he welcomed it back- mainly because he suspected that Pierce underestimated the reach of his senses.

_In the van, Peter had listened carefully to pick up any clues as to where they were; as did the other boys. Harry was unfamiliar with the geography, but Alex promptly indicated that the ride in the van had taken three hours in a south-west direction. Percy had nodded and mouthed ‘Baltimore’ at Peter, who then thought hard about anything he’d smelled or heard to give a more specific location. _

_A low ship horn. Seagulls. Seawater. Big crowds… A group of kids talking about a science centre…_

_Peter beamed at his cellmates. For once, his senses had proved useful. He knew where they were being kept._

Now, however, he sensed something was wrong. His senses were telling him that the morning was too quiet, that the pedestrian pattern was too random.

His ears perked up when he head a familiar metal clanging sound which made his brain ache.

Peter sighed with relief. He wanted so badly for someone to stop their mission. He could not bare setting off his monstrosity of a weapon on another wizard, not after what it had done to his friend.

Peter looked at Harry timidly, wondering if he could even call him that. Harry caught the younger boy’s eye and for a moment his expression was still hard. Then, suddenly, the wizard melted into a small smile, and gingerly touched Peter’s shoulder.

Peter’s skin tingled with his first friendly touch in weeks.

“Surroundings are clear. Commence with the mission.”

The boys nodded and stepped forward.

“Not so fast.”

Peter turned to his left. At the far end of the line stood Alex, who’s arm was being held back by Captain America.

The young spy looked at the blonde man, clad in his black uniform. Peter was amazed that the boy still sounded bored when he said: “Can I help you?”

Looking at Captain America awakened something in Peter. His senses were really going haywire now. A sense of familiarity, of _recognition_ swept through him, slowly unfogging his mind. _He knew who this man was_. In his earpiece, Peter hear Pierce swear.

“Is there a problem, sir?” Percy released Alex from Steve Roger’s grasp and pushed Alex to the other side of him.

Steve Rogers smiled at the older teenager in front of him. It was devoid of malice- a welcoming smile; he meant no harm. “You tell me… sorry, who are you?”

Percy frowned. “An American Citizen. Walking on the street. And who are you?”

Steve Rogers chuckled. “Alright, alright. Party’s over, you guys are coming with me.” Rogers held a hand up to his ear. “Guys, they aren’t with anyone else, but they are being watched. Let’s bring ‘em in.”

Unease flowed through the boys. They were unsure of what to do. They didn’t seem to be in trouble, but they knew that as soon as someone connected the dots between them, the weapon, and MACUSA, they would be arrested for terrorism immediately.

Of course, being arrested would be infinitely better than going back to their cells, but they were so close. They had a plan now, and they had a weapon- they would get their revenge. In another week, the boys would be out of there, free.

Peter looked over at the rest of the boys and saw they had come to the same conclusion.

_Run_.

Chaos broke out.

Peter took off in the direction of the van, followed by Alex and Harry. They had been instructed to do so by their earpieces. Meanwhile, Percy was keeping Steve Rogers busy.

“This guy has super strength!” Peter heard Percy yell. “How am I supposed to-”

Peter looked back. Rogers and Percy were engaged in an odd dance, where Percy was dodging Steve’s advances and Steve was uninterested in actually hurting Percy. Percy looked around desperately, smiling when he found what he wanted.

The boy raised his hands like Peter had seen him do the first day he met him. All around him, water bottle exploded open, heading into Percy’s hands with incredible pressure.

The extraordinary sight made Peter stop running and watch as Percy willed the water to take the form of spikes, throwing them in Steve’s direction one by one.

Steve Rogers seemed so taken aback by what had just happened that he almost forgot to dodge the first spike. Even as he jumped into action, his eyes looked haunted, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d seen. This only lasted for a moment though, which was enough for Percy to turn and start running.

The older teenager grabbed a hold of Peter and pulled him into action. “Come on!”

Just as the two of them gained momentum, they were stopped by a human shaped robot. Percy and Peter froze in front of it, and Peter barely registered Alex and Harry trying to dodge a man with a bow and arrow and a woman with fiery red hair.

The sight in front of Peter was twisting his heart painfully. Peter’s brain hurt from memories that had been beaten out of his brain.

The robot opened up to reveal an intimidating man in an expensive suit and a perfect beard.

Percy threw his hands up exasperatedly. “Who’s this now?”

“Kid…” The man in front of them stepped towards Peter, an expression on his face that Peter distantly recognized as fondness and relief. He reached forward to hold Peter’s shoulder, but stopped when Peter flinched, looking at Tony as if he didn’t recognize him.

Peter’s brain throbbed painfully. “Mister… Stark?”

Percy’s mouth dropped open. “You know this guy?”

Peter looked into Mister Stark’s face and found the man squinting at him. His face had morphed into one of concern and confusion. “What’s wrong, kid? Something’s wrong…”

Peter held his head in his hands tightly, willing the pain to go away. Pieces of memory came back to him. _Tony Stark. Pepper Potts. Iron Man. Mentor. Stark Industries. Suit. Internship. The Avengers._

“Son, don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” Peter heard beside him.

Steve Rogers was by Percy’s side again, who was glaring at the taller man. “Who are you calling _son_?”

“Parker-”

“Mister Stark, you need to let us go or they’ll get away.”

_Tony looked at the boy in front of him. Peter was in bad shape. He was thin, and exhausted, and bruising. What the kid needed was to be taken home. Surely, he wasn’t thinking logically. _

_He looked around him. The fight had been short. Romanov had Alex Rider’s arms pinned behind his back. Barton was holding a long package and was standing beside a kid with black hair and glasses who was tied up with a rope. Rogers was standing close to a kid who’s face looked vaguely familiar, who was looking at Steve like he wanted nothing more than to deck him._

_It was a mission accomplished. So why was Peter telling him to let them go? _

_He wanted to speak to the kid, to make sure he was okay. Tony had never been great with physical touching, but he knew that Peter loved it, so he was surprised to see the kid flinching away from him. Tony forced his mind to stop thinking about what had happened to the kid while he had been looking for him. He had so many questions._

_The boys obviously were being held against their will, Tony could see that by the state of them and the bracelet on their wrists. He looked uneasily at the kid in front of him. Was he even in the right state of mind to know what was best for him? _

_The boy in front of him was still analysing his face, as if he were trying to memorize it. There was something so strange about the way Peter was stood in front of tony, a safe distance away from him, his eyes untrusting and unsure. For a kid that knew everything about Tony and worshipped everything he did, he sure seemed like he didn’t even know who Tony was._

_The idea of that made Tony’s insides turn; the same way that the idea of letting Peter walk back to Pierce was killing him. A nagging part of Tony’s brain, however, told him the kid was right. If he took the boys back now, Pierce would escape, and Peter would never be safe from him._

_Tony felt sick at the idea._

_Peter took out his earpiece and dropped it onto the ground, smashing it with his foot as if to say: I know what I’m doing._

_Then the kid faced Steve Rogers, another hero he worshipped, and said: “The walking Star-Spangled Banner, huh? Why don’t you go back to where you came from?”_

_Steve looked about as taken-aback as the kid next to him did, as the older teenager allowed Peter to lead him away from Tony and Steve. _

_Just before Peter was out of earshot, he turned around one more time. His face was expressionless as he looked at Tony, who was completely unfamiliar with the sight. “Trust me, Mister Stark. I’ll see you soon.”_


	17. Harry Potter

“Potter, Rider. Mission Report.”

Harry stood next to Alex in Pierce’s warm office, the long package still in his hand. He forced his face to be blank, but there was little he could do about the shaking of his hands. He’d been forced to hold the weapon during the mission, and he’d been forced to take it back from the man that had attacked him. It was as if Pierce was playing a prank on him; to see how long he could last keeping the very thing that had been created to destroy the Wizarding World safe.

“Mission failed, sir.” Alex announced, standing still.

Neither of the boys looked at Pierce or Rumlow, but they knew the two men were unhappy. The first mission had been a failure. Harry had picked up from the hushed whispers on the way to Pierce’s office that a group called the Avengers had been the ones to stop their progress. The exposure to this group had immediately landed Peter back in the Programming Room, and Percy was soon to follow for reasons that Harry couldn’t put a finger on.

Harry looked at the men in front of him. Pierce looked livid. Rumlow looked annoyed. He wondered what they expected the boys to say; the mission had been watched; everyone knew what happened.

Rumlow set his jaw and muttered to Pierce quietly.

“I told you they weren’t ready. A month isn’t long enough to complete the program. We are moving too rashly-”

“_Be quiet, Rumlow_.” Pierce hissed.

The tension in the room filled Harry with unease. He thought about how close he had been to escaping this place. He’d smelled fresh air; he’d felt the weak sun. He’d been _so close_ to the Wizarding World. He could have warned them, he could have escaped. He wondered what part of him had seen the look on Peter’s face and trusted the boy enough to return here willingly. He must have been out of his mind.

Harry squirmed uncomfortably. Even his cooperation with his captors felt wrong to him. He noticed Alex shooting him a warning look and immediately felt his body heat rise. He was completely out of control. He wasn’t calling _any_ shots. Everything he did was an order by his captors or his cell mates. It all felt wrong.

He still felt nauseous. He wanted nothing more than to find his wand, destroy the package in front of him, and escape from this hole. He wanted to get his cellmates to safety, obviously, but his body felt itchy with how close he had been to attacking his own people today. He knew the four of them had planned to sabotage the weapon and make it defective, but he still felt like a traitor; carrying something so dangerous into a place so full of wizards.

Harry’s thoughts turned to the Avengers. When Alex and Harry had run away, they hadn’t put up much of a fight for the man and woman who followed them. For show, of course, Harry had struggled with the archer, but he was so relieved that their mission had been interrupted that he had to force himself not to just hold his hands up in surrender.

Still, that would have been a perfect moment to run back into his world. One foot into the MACUSA building and the nightmare would be over. He would be able to go back home, fix his broken mind, and take revenge on Pierce and his people.

As Harry thought about this enticing idea, he knew already that he would never have been able to go through with it. He didn’t remember much about the Wizarding World, but he knew they wouldn’t take in his muggle cellmates. He couldn’t just leave them behind. Maybe, though-

“Potter!”

Harry frowned, looking for who interrupted his thoughts.

Pierce was looking at him suspiciously, letting silence fill the room. Harry hated the man and his dramatics. He tapped his thumb against his thigh as he impatiently snapped: “What is it?”

Alex coughed beside Harry and Rumlow’s forehead crinkled as his eyebrows shot up. Harry knew he was ruining his progress of being cooperative and broken, but he couldn’t find it within himself to care. He thought of Peter and Percy, probably still being tortured in another room, and steeled himself. He was done with the ‘good soldier’ act. He was either leaving this place as Harry Potter or he wasn’t leaving this place at all.

_Besides, _Harry thought, _you can never trust people with too much power._

Pierce clicked his tongue in frustration. He murmured something unintelligible to Rumlow, who in turn signalled to the guards behind the boys.

Once again, Harry and Alex were led to their cells.

* * *

“Who’s ready for a Greek Mythology lesson?”

Harry sat up quickly, surprised to hear Percy speaking.

After he and Alex were returned to their cells, Peter and Percy followed some hours later. The two of them came in looking downright terrible; their bodies a pattern of bruises and cuts, their temples raw, and their eyes rimmed with red. They had been thrown into their cells and Harry hadn’t expected them to wake up for another day, so when he heard Percy talking now, he threw a meaningful glance at Alex and shuffled as close to the centre of the room as he could.

“Greek mythology? Percy, are you alright?”

The guy looked… different. His eyes were a darker shade of green, his skin was dull. Percy looked dangerously unwell, which was only enforced by the slightly crazed look in his eye.

“I will be, when I’m out of here,” Percy smiled, almost menacingly. He was sat cross-legged as usual, but his arms were laid in front of him for support. He leant heavily to the right, and Harry assumed he had injured his left ribs while he was gone. None of this seemed to bother Percy. He looked almost… dangerous.

“Peter, buddy, you hearing me?” Percy shot at the younger kid, who was lying on his stomach with his eyes clenched shut. A mere hum from Peter was all Percy needed to continue.

“Okay, I have a plan. It’s completely insane, but at this point, to get out of here, I’m willing to do literally anything.”

Harry had to agree, and looked over at Alex for confirmation. He saw Alex examining Percy closely, deep in thought. Harry knew that Alex was the only one of them Percy had to convince in any kind of escape plan, so he kept his eye on the boy.

“When they fried me this time-”

“Why did they fry you?” Alex questioned. The young boy stood up and walked around his cell absentmindedly, clearly bothered about something.

Percy waved his hand and winced in pain as he did so. He looked down at his torso, annoyed, then planted his hand on the ground again. “Pierce got paranoid that me being outside would have made it easy for someone to contact me.”

“Who?” Alex questioned.

“Hera.”

“The goddess?”

“Yeah, Alex, the goddess.” Percy cocked his eyebrow at the younger boy as if to ask if he could continue uninterrupted. Alex waved his hand and Percy bit the inside of his cheek, trying to remember something. “Oh yeah. So apparently they were super paranoid this time because they fried me so hard I almost died-”

“That’s what that was?” Peter squeaked, only able to lift his head a few centimetres off the floor. “Perce, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, all good.”

“That’s what _what_ was?” Harry asked, eyes wide in confusion and horror. “You almost died?”

“Most of the people working on me suddenly left to go somewhere else,” Peter murmured. “An alarm went off for like an hour- did you guys not hear it?”

Alex shook his head as Harry muttered, “we didn’t hear a thing.”

Percy cringed. “Yeah, sorry about that, Peter. I know sounds bother you and all-”

“Percy,” Peter replied, bewildered. “You almost _died_.”

“Oh yeah, back to the story,” Percy thought hard.

Harry wondered briefly if the guy was all there. He seemed confused and disorientated. He was about to suggest that Percy got some rest when the boy started talking again.

“So, Hera wants me out of here.” Percy stated. “She found me when I almost shut down,” Percy chuckled, “and said that she was able to find out where I am because of the mission today. She’s gonna help us get out.”

Harry’s chest filled up with energy. “How?”

“Is she trustworthy?” Alex asked.

“Definitely not,” Percy answered Alex. “But she needs me for something, some sort of exchange, so she needs me as much as I need her.”

Harry pushed up his glasses out of habit. “How is she getting us out?”

“Yeah, sorry Harry. She can’t do much, but she said she can _compromise this facility_ in a way that would give us a chance to make a run for it.”

“But-” Peter mumbled, his chin still on the ground. “She’s a goddess. Can’t she just get us out of here?”

Percy snorted. “Something tells me that gods and goddesses don’t ever just help us out,” he said, almost bitterly. “She mentioned something about being watched- I think by her husband, Zeus. I don’t think she’s even allowed to talk to me.”

Harry scoffed. “What, Zeus is a thing now too?”

Percy shrugged. “Why would Hera be a thing but Zeus not?”

Harry shook his head. He knew many people didn’t know magic was a thing in the real world, but _Greek gods_? He kept having to remind himself that they weren’t speaking in some sort of elaborate metaphor.

Alex still looked troubled. “So we can’t trust her, and she only needs you alive… Percy, I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well for us.”

Percy looked at Alex. His expression was understanding, but his eyes were hard. The guy always brushed past his pain so quickly, Harry often forgot how much he was really suffering; but right now, the look in his eyes reminded Harry that Percy was the only one of them that had been tortured every day, from the moment they got here.

Alex was holding Percy’s gaze, a serious look on his face. Harry could see that the boy wouldn’t risk his life on something that could make things worse, but he also knew that Percy and Alex respected each other’s wild and risky ideas. A silent conversation passed through them, and Harry knew that Alex was more interested in escaping than he was in a perfect plan.

Harry himself knew that he would be willing to try anything to get out of here. He owed it to the family he didn’t remember, to his forgotten friends. He had to warn the Wizarding World, and he had to destroy the weapon. His people were at risk, and Harry refused to be a part of it, sitting useless in this cell.

“When is Hera going to do it?” Harry asked.

Percy looked away from Alex as the younger boy nodded. He looked Harry square in the face, and it struck Harry again how depleted Percy looked.

“I told her do hit us tomorrow, during the group training.”

* * *

Harry couldn’t sleep that night. His thoughts were full of both excitement and premonition. His mind was torn between thinking of his life after the escape: returning to his family and finding his memories; and wondering if they were really that lucky to be able to escape tomorrow.

He heard one of the boys shuffle around and murmur softly. It wasn’t unusual for them to have restless night or be plagued by nightmares, so Harry ignored it, until-

“Is anyone awake?”

“Peter,” Harry replied softly, “try and get some sleep.”

“Harry?” Peter mumbled.

Silence fell between them. Harry knew what Peter was thinking; he could almost hear the boy’s thoughts.

“Harry, I’m… I’m sorry for building the weapon.”

Harry just sighed. “It’s alright, Peter. You… you had to.”

No matter how his heart twisted at the words, Harry knew he meant it. Silence fell again.

“You, um… You think we’re actually gonna escape tomorrow?”

Harry closed his eyes. A familiar wave of desperation flooded Harry’s thoughts; he forced himself not to cry.

“Harry?”

“Yeah, Peter. I think that this time tomorrow we’ll be far away from this place.”

It sounded more like a distant dream than their reality.

“Hmm…” Peter muttered, shuffling around on the hard floor.

Harry looked up at the cell opposite him and smiled despite himself. Peter had positioned himself by the wall separating his cell from Percy’s. The older teenager was passed out against the wall, and Peter mirrored this movement, as close to his cellmate as he could be. Harry had seen them in this position before.

Warmth filled the wizard. He drifted off to sleep before he could recognize that feeling to be hopefulness.

* * *

When Hera hit, she hit _hard_.

And a couple of minutes too soon.

The boys were in the middle of being escorted to the Training Arena for their second ever group training session. Pierce had implemented these sessions right before their first mission, in hopes to move along the process of making the four of them a team. Harry smiled to himself at the memory of how badly that turned out.

Harry tried to memorize where he was being taken, like he did every time he was escorted through these corridors. He had been here for a month and, since he wasn’t often conscious when he was dragged though these doors, Harry still didn’t know the layout of the place. He wondered if any of his cellmates would even know where to go when the time came.

They had just passed through the last thick door with a passcode. Harry knew that this was the last passcode-protected door until the Training Arena, and looked ahead of him as the guards pulled him along. He could hear Percy, Peter, and Alex’s footsteps behind him and felt the nervous energy radiate off the procession. If everything went according to plan, they might finally be out of here by-

The floor beneath Harry shook. He heard something that sounded like an incredible explosion, and, for a moment, everyone froze.

Then there was havoc.

First, the lights went out. Harry looked around him wildly and noticed that the guards had let go of him in confusion. Only seconds later, emergency lights flooded the corridor in a pulsating red colour, accompanied by a _deafening_ alarm shrill.

Someone behind him yelled, “Go!” and Harry took off down the corridor, his eyes adjusting to the hazy lighting.

Footsteps pounded after Harry. He looked around and saw Percy catching up to him, an arm out to push Harry to go faster. “Go faster, faster!”

Behind them where Alex and Peter, the latter with his hands over his ears. Even further behind them were their guards, alive with confused shouting. Some were pointing at the boys who were getting away from them, and some had sprung into action, hands on their radios and running after the boys.

Harry ran for his life, ignoring the ache in his head from the lights and the alarm. At the first turn where the boys separated into their pre-determined pairs, Harry whipped around and looked at Peter and Alex. The two younger boys had never looked so similar as they did now. The action had glued a smile on their face, their eyes sparkling with energy.

“Good luck!” Percy yelled over the alarm.

Alex and Peter nodded as they turned around and ran in what Harry hoped was the direction of Pierce’s office. He was almost sad to see them go. If all went well, the two pairs would meet again in the Training Arena- where Harry and Percy where heading to- and the younger boys would have the biological weapon in their hands.

Harry looked up at Percy and saw that his partner was staring after the boys, a worried expression on his face. “Come on!” Harry yelled, and Percy immediately jumped back into action.

The guards were still after them, from what Harry could tell. He saw movement behind him, but the red lighting made it hard to be sure. Harry and Percy sprinted through the maze of corridors that Harry prayed led to the Training Arena. That was where his wand was being kept; he was not escaping without his wand.

Finally, the boys found the doors they had been looking for; the Training Arena. The two of them burst through.

The Training Arena was in complete ruins.

Harry allowed himself only seconds to take it all in, but the damage was so severe that he found himself to be in awe of Hera’s power.

An enormous hole gaped through the ceiling of the Arena. Harry had to watch where he stepped as he realized the floor was littered with fallen lights and beams. Past the ceiling Harry could finally see how far underground they had really been. Where the roof of the building ended, about fifteen more meters of earth covered it before Harry could just see the outside sky. The explosion had brought in a mess of earth into the room and, mixed with Percy’s training water that had escaped from its shattered containment, it became mud that flowed between the rubble.

“Carrick!” Harry jumped as Percy yelled the name. He focussed on the people in front of him. “Just the douche I wanted to see!”

Harry looked at the floor and quickly found a long pipe to lock the doors behind him with. He turned back around and found himself looking at a long line of guards that had been waiting for them to start their training. In the front of these men stood Carrick, a sneer on his face.

Harry’s heart pounded. This was all wrong. The explosion happened too soon. Percy’s collar was still on; Harry didn’t have his wand. How were they going to fight of all these guards?

“Jackson and Potter. I’m going to give you one chance to get back in line before I make you wish you’d never been born.”

Harry was suddenly grateful that they hadn’t arrived in time for Carrick to put the electrocuting collars on the boys. He tried not to think about how the escape would’ve panned out then.

Percy chuckled darkly. Harry wondered how he sounded so calm when everything had gone so wrong. “Funny guy, right, Harry?” Percy glared at Carrick. “Because, thanks to you, I don’t remember _anything at all_ since the day I was born. You _jerks_ took that away from me.”

Harry watched with his mouth open as Percy picked up a rock from the floor and ran forward. The guards lifted their weapons and Percy skidded onto the floor to avoid the line of fire. Just as Carrick pulled out his own gun, Percy threw the rock with deadly accuracy and the rock flew directly at Carrick. The shrill alarms weren’t loud enough to cover the sound of Carrick’s skull cracking and the man crumpled to the floor. Harry cringed at the sight.

“Harry!” Percy yelled as he started running again, trying to find cover from the guards’ bullets.

_The wand._

Harry ran to the far end of the room, thankful for the flashing lights throwing off the guards’ aim. He knew exactly where the wand would be; he’d been staring at it longingly every time he found himself in this room, dreaming of this very moment. A laugh escaped his lips as he picked up a thick pipe from the ruined plumbing and ran to the small, glass box on the weapon’s table.

A couple of bullets whipped past him and Harry instinctively fell to the ground. “_No!_” He’d been so close; he almost had the wand!

Glass shattered above Harry’s head, and he felt small shards fall into his hair. For a moment he was frozen, his eyes wide. “No way…”

He glanced up, and there it was; his wand, there, on the pillow, ready for him to take back.

Harry’s body filled with energy. He felt the wand tugging him, and snatched it up, euphoria pulsing through his limbs. He smiled.

“Harry? You got the stick yet?”

Harry nodded. He scanned the room behind him and found that the guards had lost interest in him for the moment. Instead, they shot at the ceiling, apathetic to the damage they were doing to the ruined ceiling.

Harry looked up to see Percy hanging from the few remaining ropes that hung down from the ceiling. He jumped from rope to rope with relative ease, looking down at the guards as the shot up at him. Harry squinted at the boy when he realized Percy was injured; shot right under his right armpit. Even with the wound and his already injured ribs, Percy continued jumping, only his gritted teeth giving his pain away.

“Hey!” Harry yelled at the guards. _Confringo_, he thought as he pointed at them. An invisible blast threw them all back a few meters, and Harry smiled at the magic echoing through his body again.

He heard elated sounds and looked at the ceiling, where Percy was cheering him on. The boy slid down the rope and dangled for a moment from the end of the rope before he dropped to the ground with a pained grunt.

“Are you okay?”

Percy held a hand tightly over his bleeding wound. “Things… could be better,” he admitted. He nodded at the guards. “They dead?”

Harry shook his head. “I can’t kill them with magic, ‘s gainst the law. They’re just out for a moment.”

“Huh,” Percy laughed. “Against the law…” he mumbled as he started in the direction of Carrick.

Harry quickly turned around and picked up two more devices from the table before he followed Percy tentatively, worried that the brutal guard would wake up again. Percy fumbled through Carrick’s pockets and fished out the device he was after. He wasted no time in undoing his collar, and let the thing drop to the ground when it unlocked. Percy smiled as he pocketed the keys and rubbed his neck. He looked at Harry.

“Mission accomplished, eh?”

Harry smiled, nodding. After another beat, the two older boys stilled, their expressions becoming nervous. Harry was just about to wonder aloud where Peter and Alex could possibly be, when the main doors rattled desperately.

Harry looked at Percy, an unsaid question lingering in the air. _Should we open the door_?

The door rattled again, louder this time.

Percy nodded at Harry, who immediately whispered, “_diffindo_”

Two parts of the pole fell away and the doors burst open, revealing Peter and Alex- with the weapon, sprinting towards them.

Harry laughed in relief until he heard the noise behind them. Beside him, Percy took both of the younger boys by the shoulders and checked them for injuries; when he was sure they were both okay and Peter was released from his collar, he whisked them behind him. Alex and Peter were too breathless to argue, with sweat rolling down their faces.

Harry nodded at Percy, giving him the two devices he’d picked up from the table, and stepped in front of the group, his wand out.

Mere seconds later, Harry heard Peter exclaim “_my web-slingers_!” into the heavy silence. The rest of the boys couldn’t help but snicker at Peter’s excitement.

“You know how to make a forcefield or something like that?” Percy murmured from behind.

“Yeah,” Harry replied.

“Okay. When I say ‘go’…”

The shouting got louder and louder until two dozen more guards burst through the door, followed closely by five more soldiers with gas masks on, one of which Harry recognized to be Rumlow. The man was the last through the door, closing it behind him.

The alarm rang on. The flashing red lights gave little away.

“Go!”

“_Protego_!” Harry yelled as he heard a _pop_ behind him. He willed his shield to envelop him and his cellmates, and tried not to flinch as bullets were hurled at it.

Outside of the shield, Harry saw the room quickly fill with black smoke. At first it had looked like a shadow, but, as it spread, the bullets ceased and the guards in front of them dropped to the ground, one by one. Harry glanced behind him and saw Peter wielding the weapon.

The room fell silent under the shrill of the alarm. Black smoke surrounded the shield and Harry wondered if they were alone. His heart skipped a beat when he remembered that some guards had been wearing gas masks.

He waited for another couple of minutes, then whispered _scourgify_.

The smoke around them cleared. Harry heard Percy swear under his breath as the boys realized that they couldn’t see Rumlow and his masked guards.

Then, all Harry heard was gunshots.

All around, his shield was being fired at. His concentration on the spell faltered as his shield vibrated violently. Harry screamed as he felt the shield retract slowly.

This time, Percy swore out loud.

Harry’s concentration broke completely when he noticed the ground move. Or, not the ground, _the mud_. He looked behind him frantically and saw Percy standing perfectly still, his palms facing upwards, making movements with his hands.

Harry watched as, in the blink of an eye, water separated itself from the mud and whipped around in five, long tendrils. Percy twisted his hands in a swatting manner and the tendrils did the same, simulations removing all the guard’s guns with such force that Harry heard fingers crack and yelps of pain over the alarm.

Harry watched as Percy released the water back into the ground, returning his hand over his wound. He didn’t look so good…

“Get them!” Rumlow ordered.

Percy groaned as the four boys jumped back into action. Harry stayed close to the demigod while the guards closed in on them. Before Harry could think of a spell, Percy yelped in pain.

Harry’s head whipped over to him, only to see that where his wound had been, now lay a mess of white material.

Percy was glaring half-heartedly at Peter. “What was that for?”

Peter shrugged, smiling weakly. “Stop the bleeding?” Then, the boy was gone. He shot a web upwards and swung directly into a guard, taking him on with close combat.

Harry shook his head at the boy as he turned back around. He realized too late that a guard had been running toward him, once more with a gun in hand. Harry barely had time to yell, “_Expelliarmus”_ before he was tackled to the ground, trying to shove the man off him. “_Stupify!_” Harry screamed desperately, and the man became limp and heavy. Harry pushed him off, quickly getting to his feet, surveying the scene.

Alex was stood close by Harry. There was a bleeding cut down his cheek, but otherwise the boy looked well enough. A man almost twice his size was in a crumpled heap beside him, not doing do well.

Peter was running towards Percy, leaving a man-sized bundle of that same white material behind him. The kid looked exhausted and pained, but as he sprinted forwards he yelled “Percy!”

Harry’s head whipped around when he heard a thump. _Silencio_, he pointed his wand at the alarm. The silence that followed was deafening.

Alex and Harry ran forward to Percy, who had fallen to his knees. His arms were wrapped around his torso and he groaned softly. A guard lay beside him, bruised and wet.

Peter desperately looked up at Harry. “I have to get him out of here!”

Harry nodded and pointed his wand at the hole in the ceiling, through which he could see the smallest bit of sky. “_Reducto_!”

Harry quickly pulled Alex to his side and cast another shield spell over the four of them as more debris fell to the floor. When Harry was sure no more would fall, he released the spell. He watched as Peter frantically tried to get a proper hold on Percy while aiming his wrist towards the considerably larger hole.

“Not so fast!”

All of a sudden, Rumlow appeared behind Peter, a dagger in his hand.

“Peter!” Harry called out.

The kid was frozen, deliberating on what to do. Mere seconds later, Peter stirred to attack, trying to get Rumlow away from Percy, when he cried out in pain.

Harry stared in horror as Rumlow twisted the dagger in Peter’s flesh. He desperately wished he could stun Rumlow, but with Peter covering Rumlow’s body, Harry was powerless to help.

Peter’s eyes rolled up into his head as Rumlow pulled out the dagger. He kept Peter standing by keeping him in a headlock.

Harry knew that Peter would normally be able to throw Rumlow off him with ease, but the boy was malnourished and exhausted. Even now, his knees buckled in pain.

“Get off him.” Alex sneered.

Rumlow laughed. “After the trouble this kid has been? No, I don’t think I will, huh, Peter?” Rumlow shook the boy, who groaned in pain.

“Did you really think this was it? Huh? You really thought we didn’t have enough information to replicate the weapon you made? Are you that naïve?” Harry boiled with anger as Peter whimpered. “Yeah,” Rumlow whispered in the boy’s ear, “you boys are not getting out of here alive.”

Harry noticed movement on the floor around him. Just like before, he saw every drop of water come alive, this time forming into a huge sphere.

Harry stared at it and at Percy. The guy was slumped over, breathing heavily. Only his hands moved, and Harry could see the sweat dripping through his hair and down his neck.

“Percy,” Alex warned. They both knew Percy didn’t have the strength to do this.

Rumlow laughed wickedly again. “What, Jackson? What’re you gonna do? Shower me?”

Rumlow’s laugh was cut off instantly as the sphere of water scooped him up from the ground. Alex ran over to Peter as the younger boy fell to the floor with a grunt.

Harry could only watch as the sphere of restless water swirled around Rumlow, encompassing him completely. He could hear Rumlow struggling to breathe, and forced himself to look away. “Percy,” he pleaded.

Harry heard Rumlow’s struggles become weaker as the water grew angrier, squeezing Rumlow tighter- “Percy!”

Finally, Percy slumped over completely, letting the sphere fall. Harry pointed his wand at Rumlow and mumbled “_incarcerous._”

Thick ropes bound the man that had kept them captive for so long.

Rumlow struggled in vain as thick ropes bound him, coughing and sputtering.

“Harry, we have to get them out of here-”

“That won’t be necessary, boys.”

Harry stepped back in surprise as something red on gold streaked past him, unbelievably quietly. He watched as it slowed down, landing by Peter with a heavy _clunk._ It looked to be a robot shaped as a human, but Harry couldn’t be sure in the flashing red lighting.

Alex glared up at the figure. “Wow, I’m glad you could make it. Just in time.” 

The metal figure looked around. A metallic voice emitted from it. “Kid, we were on stand-by, but… Peter?”

The figure bent over Peter gingerly.

“Hey, hey!” Alex stepped closer to the injured teenager protectively.

The figure gently pushed Alex out of the way and scooped Peter up, leaving through the hole in the ceiling without another word.

“Hey!” Alex shouted after him. “Where are you taking him?”

The yelling make Percy groan, and Harry walked over to the boy. “Alex, come over here,” Harry called out as he firmly held on to Percy’s side. “Hold him like this.”

Alex did as he was told, although he looked unsure. “Are you about to get us out of here with magic?”

Harry nodded. “Hold on tight.” Alex gulped.

Before Harry uttered the words, he looked around him, Rumlow’s word echoing in his mind. He pointed his wand at the discarded weapon and felt immense satisfaction as it disintegrated under his_ reducto_ spell.

Alex’s mouth gaped wide open. Harry pointed his wand at the rest of the room and put as much passion as he could into his voice. “_Incedio!_”

Flames shot out of his wand. Soon, the room was engulfed in flame, the heat of it burning Harry’s skin.

“Harry!” Alex yelled. “Let’s get out of here!”

Harry couldn’t agree more. He thought of the world outside that the hole in the ceiling promised.

_Crack._


	18. Alex Rider

_Crack._

The world around Alex turned so fast, so _unnaturally_, that Alex screamed in shock. All he could feel was Percy’s side clamped in his arms, and the very fabric of the world around him twisting into itself-

It was over in a second.

Alex thudded onto the ground, feeling grass beneath him. He remembered to stop screaming and clamped his mouth shut, breathing heavily to avoid puking the contents of his stomach out around him. He opened his eyes tentatively and, when he saw he was in a field of grass with the sky above him, he stood up in an instant.

“What the-?”

He shook his head. One moment, he’d been fighting to escape, deep in the underground, and the other, he was… here?

Alex shook his head to clear his mind. He looked around. The scene behind him made more sense.

On his right was a huge, steaming crater in the ground. Alex’s nose wrinkled as he smelled the distinct smell of fire, burning plastic, and debris. Alex knew that if he looked into the crater, he would find the remains of the Training Arena, burning in flames. He made no move to check out the crater; the thought of stepping close to the place he had been kept and tortured in made him shiver.

Alex forced himself to turn away from the crater and look to his left. There, standing proudly in the grass, was a huge VTOL stealth aircraft. Its door lay open invitingly, and Alex found himself staring at it, dumbfounded.

Between the crater and the aircraft lay Percy and Harry, the latter trying desperately to drag the former to the aircraft.

Alex frowned. His mind was still reeling from his journey from _inside_ the facility to _outside_ the facility. Something felt wrong… something felt _off_-

Alex doubled over and vomited onto the ground.

“Alex!”

He groaned and wiped his mouth. His stomach was painfully tense and his throat burned. Carefully, he straightened back up and focused his attention on Harry. “What?”

“There are people down there!”

Alex furrowed his eyebrows at the wizard. He knew there were people down there. He’d been trying to get away from those people for a _month_. “I know Harry, I-”

“I set the place on fire!” Harry screamed at him. As he did, Alex saw movement from the aircraft and noticed four people sprint down the ramp, one of them- covered in a metal suit, silver this time- taking off in flight.

“Oh” Alex whispered.

“Make sure he stays alive!” Harry took off running towards the crates, a wild expression on his face. Alex had completely forgotten they’d left the guards in the building to burn. He had been focussed on getting rid of any trace of the building, and therefore didn’t think twice when Harry had started the fire.

Alex ran over to Percy, who was lying on his stomach, looking dangerously pale. The boy tried to lift himself using his arm, but fell to the ground again, groaning. Worry flooded Alex. He looked at the aircraft tentatively, not knowing who it belonged to. He remembered the humanoid figure that had taken Peter and assumed they were in that very aircraft. He didn’t know if the aircraft was friendly or not, but, with Percy bleeding out under him, he decided it was their best bet for now. He knew he wasn’t strong enough to carry Percy, so he gently turned him around and dragged him towards the aircraft, ignoring Harry’s yelling at the crater.

Wind flushed through his hair as two figures ran past him with incredible speed. Alex looked where they were going and realized they were heading towards Harry, who was waving his wand about, spurting water from its tip. He called out to warn Harry that he had incoming, but was interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Oi!” Alex shouted, dodging the hand. In front of him was the crazy muscular guy that had intercepted their mission to the MACUSA only a day ago. He remembered that the man had fought with Percy briefly, and instinctively moved to stand between Percy and the blonde man.

“Alex Rider, right?” The man had an urgent smile on his face. “Nice to meet you. I’ve already met your family, they will be pleased to see you. I’m Steve.”

Alex recoiled at the man’s words. _What family?_

Steve tried to reach around Alex to get to Percy, which Alex thwarted. “What are you doing? Don’t touch him,” he warned calmly.

Steve looked tired as he sighed. “Kid, you friend needs help- we’re here to help,” the man turned around and waved at the aircraft and the scene of the crater. Harry and the three people he had been joined by were almost finished extinguishing the fire, with Harry and the flying humanoid doing the extinguishing, and the red-haired woman that had detained Alex during their first mission and her robin-hood partner working to rescue the guards from the smoke.

Alex turned back, studying Steve, who shot him another reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Alex. Just here to help.”

Alex stepped back and nodded once, allowing Steve to pick Percy up with ease. Percy grumbled sleepily, flinching as he was jostled.

“Careful” Alex hissed.

Steve secured Percy in his arms and took off, gracefully running towards the door of the aircraft. Alex sprinted to keep up, keeping a wary eye on Steve’s back as his ears picked up the sounds of sirens in the distance.

* * *

Alex’s leg bounced impatiently, unsure of what to do.

He was sat in the front of the aircraft- or the Quinjet, as they called it, securely strapped into the autopilot’s seat. Beside him was the red-haired woman, who had introduced herself as Natasha Romanov. She was piloting the jet, eyes glued to the sky ahead of her, with her hands expertly flying over the controls whenever she deemed it necessary.

Directly behind the two of them sat Harry and Clint Barton. Harry was passed out in his seat, a thin blanket covering his body. Beside him, Clint Barton stayed silent, furiously reporting something on his phone. Harry, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanov all smelled like smoke, and Alex stared straight into the sky ahead to try and forget the smell.

Even further behind the four of them was more action. On either side of the open area of the jet were two white cots, filled respectively with Percy and Peter. The two boys were fading in and out of consciousness, not even finding rest in their disturbed dreams, trying to hang on until the jet reached a hospital.

Over Peter’s bed stood the man that Alex had seen come out of the humanoid robot only two hours before: Tony Stark. Alex didn’t recognize their names- he didn’t recognize any of the people that were rescuing them, but the man had said his name in a way only famous people could; with great importance. This, of course, was now melted away as he fussed over Peter, keeping a tight clamp over the boy’s wound and muttering calming words into his ear.

Steve stood over Percy, perfectly still. His gaze never left the boy, moving only to make Percy more comfortable when he squirmed. Alex had watched as the man expertly treated Percy’s wound in temporary gauzes and bandages. It was clear that the man knew what he was doing.

Alex felt uneasy. He desperately wanted to unstrap himself from the seat and help his cellmates. He didn’t know these people and frankly did not trust them, but he could not deny that he needed their help. His leg bounced faster as he realized he didn’t have a choice in the matter, and tried to remind himself that Percy and Peter were in good hands.

Alex looked over his shoulder when he heard the familiar sound of Harry jerking awake. He smiled at the exhausted boy empathetically. Both of them were trying hard to stay awake and stay alert for Percy and Peter, but the past month left them tired to the bone. Harry frowned and shifted in his seat, before slowly drifting off again.

“You should get some rest.”

The voice was soft but authoritative. Alex fixed his gaze on Natasha Romanov, who was still watching the skies.

There was something in her demeanour that Alex had instantly recognized when she introduced herself, so when he turned back around to face forward, he replied, “would you?”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her smile. “Definitely not.”

* * *

The Quinjet door opened slowly. As soon as it hit the ground, Tony and Steve ran down it, rolling with them the gurneys that they had transferred Peter and Percy onto. Alex and Harry ran close behind, watching as the six of them were met by a group of four doctors in long, white coats. As his feet reached the ground, Alex looked back to see the door closing back up, with Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton buckling back into their seats.

Steve and Tony kept a hold of the gurneys, each of them were joined by two doctors. Alex subconsciously noted that they were entering through the back of a huge, modern building. The floors were smooth and dark, the walls made of windows. He ignored everything else as it whizzed past him. He was trying to listen to whatever Tony Stark was saying, who had been barking orders at the ceiling since he’d entered the building.

“FRIDAY, tell Dr. Cho to get the transfusions ready- we’ll be there in fifty seconds”

“Tell the Pleasure’s to meet us in front of the MedBay- show them where”

“FRIDAY! Have Happy pick up May now, _pronto_”

“Lockdown this building! No one is coming in until they get the say-so!”

Alex and Harry followed the group into an industrial sized elevator. Steve punched a blue button with a caduceus on it and the doors closed quietly.

Nervous, Alex watched Percy and Peter. Discomfort was etched on their pale faces. Peter’s breathing was loud and shallow, and Percy was bleeding through his bandages.

Alex’s stomach finally settled as the doors of the elevator slid open. Wasting no time, the gurneys were once again in motion. He looked ahead to see two light blue swing doors and followed the group through them, flinching as the doctors exploded into noise. They were rattling off information about Percy and Peter before Alex even entered the room.

The room was huge. The bright lighting and the white walls shone so brilliantly, Alex had to squint to allow his eyes to adjust. Incredibly high-tech equipment filled the room, along with four hospital beds in the middle, each of them surrounded by two more doctors.

_Hold on… Why four beds?_

“Stark, who is this?”

An intelligent looking doctor walked up to Tony Stark, who had been arguing with the doctors around Peter’s bed. Alex watched as the lady pointed to Alex and Harry.

“They need a good dose of sleep, Dr. Cho. These boys probably haven’t eaten or slept properly in a month.” Tony murmured to the doctor, no quiet enough for Alex to ignore. He shot an alarmed look at Harry, who looked back at him, confused.

The doctor sighed. “Tony, it’s not exactly good practice to-”

“Cho,” Tony retorted, exasperatedly. His eyes kept flicking back to the boy below him, “they just spent a month being tortured and starved. They don’t trust us, and I don’t blame them. Please,” Tony looked at the two boys, standing only meters from him, “trust me on this one.”

Before either Alex or Harry could protest, they were led to the remaining two beds in the room. Alex heard Harry struggle with his doctors and did the same. He did _not_ want to drop his guard in a room… full of… strangers…

His world went black.

* * *

“_Try getting it in his mouth_”

“_No way you’re gonna get that._”

Alex’s mind slowly resurfaced. His limbs felt heavy, and his brain took some time to reorient itself. He flinched as he felt something bounce off his cheek.

“_No! I was so close!_”

Alex groaned softly as he rubbed his eyes. He slowly sat up and opened his eyes, grateful that the lights were so dim. He gingerly touched his cheek and drew his hand back, surprised to find it covered with chocolate pudding.

“Alex!”

He looked to his right and smiled with relief as he saw Peter and Percy, very much awake, propped up by their pillows. That is, until he looked over the side of his bed and saw an almost-empty chocolate pudding cup lying on the floor. Alex glared up at the two, who snickered.

“Did you guys throw a _pudding cup_ at me?” Alex raised an eyebrow, still coming out of his sleepy daze. “Aren’t you lot supposed to be injured or something?”

Percy laughed out loud while Peter at least had the decency to look guilty.

“I’m sorry Alex,” Percy held his side tightly as he laughed. “You sleep with your mouth wide open. You were practically asking us to”

Alex snorted as he leant over to pick up the empty pudding cup. Just as he half-heartedly threw the cup at Percy’s head, Harry muttered gently. “Wha’s going on?”

“Morning sunshine,” Alex chuckled at the dishevelled wizard. A burst of adrenaline surged through him, and he promptly threw one of his pillows at the mess of black hair next to him.

“Hey!” Harry bolted up, squinting around him while he patted the area for his glasses. He found them on the tray hovering over his legs and put them on, taking in his surroundings.

“FRIDAY?” Peter spoke to no one in particular. “Lights on”

Alex jumped in his bed as a professional female voice rang through the room. “Good morning Peter, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and Alex Rider. You are all looking well.” The lights brightened.

Harry was looking around frantically to see where the voice came from, while Alex murmured a sincere, “What the hell?” He looked over at Percy though and laughed when he saw the older teenager rushing to pull up his covers over his naked torso.

“Who’s here?”

Now that the lights were on, Alex took note of his cellmates.

In the bed beside him, Harry looked relatively well, albeit groggy and tired. His hair stuck out in every direction and his skin was gaunt, but he looked good.

On the far right of the beds lay Peter, not moving much in his bed. His shirt had been cut off, and Alex saw that his torso was covered in bandages- thankfully all clean. The boy still looked exhausted and Alex could basically see every joint in his body, but the look on his face was one of rest.

Percy was gleaming with joy. The wound under his armpit was bandaged, and he held it tightly when he moved, but the boy looked elated to be out of the facility. His black hair was flattened on the back of his head from sleeping against the pillows, which made Alex chuckle.

He looked down at himself, noticing only now that he had nothing on other than a blue hospital gown. Immediately he slid further down the bed, checking to confirm that Harry also had one on, over lumpy bandages on his torso.

“They took my clothes, what the-?”

The swing doors opened to reveal a team of doctors, who marched into the room. Soon, the boys were checked over for physical injuries and their levels were checked, before they were fed and coerced back to sleep with the promise of seeing their families within the next couple of days.

* * *

“Is anyone awake?”

Alex heard Percy and Harry hum gently while he murmured “yeah.”

The boys lay awake in their beds, staring at a different ceiling than they were used to. The low lighting played tricks on Alex’s eyes, making shadows dance around the room.

Peter moved to change his position. After a moment, he whispered, “good.”

They continued to stare at the ceiling for a bit, one by one their eyes slowly drooping, until Peter asked again, “anyone starting to remember things?”

The silence that fell now was thick.

Alex had spent the last days in MedBay trying not to feel overwhelmed as his memories came back to him in clumps. He thought of them now, clicked back into his brain, making sense of his instincts and his feelings. He welcomed some back; others, he preferred to forget. A name ran through his brain, seemingly connecting all his regained memories. _Jack_.

“Yeah,” he replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “Mine are coming back.”

“Mine too,” Harry said quietly.

“Um, _mine_ aren’t.” Alex looked over at Percy, who was shooting looks at his cellmates suspiciously. “Are you guys kidding? Is this a prank? I haven’t gotten mine back yet.”

“You did remember Annabeth though, right?” Peter said absentmindedly. The boy looked like he was deep in thought, staring at the foot of his bed.

Percy didn’t respond. Instead, he looked at Peter and asked him if he was okay.

Peter closed his eyes. “The way I talked to Mister Stark and Captain America…” He shook his head, trying to lose the memory. “Was _so rude_.”

Harry snorted. Percy smiled in surprise. Alex thought about how Peter must be feeling, getting all his memories back, realizing what he had just been through, healing through a stab wound, and all he could worry about was how he’d spoken to the Avengers?

A thought struck him. _The Pleasures must be worried sick_.

Alex jumped out of bed, clamping shut the back of his gown. He looked around him and found that he didn’t even know where he was. He knew he was probably still in America, but he had no way of contacting his family.

A familiar feeling washed over him.

_I need to get out of here._

“You alright, mate?” Harry’s face was fighting with itself, trying not to smile.

Alex heard a low whistle from Percy. “You look great in that gown-”

“We’ve been gone for a month.” Alex looked at his cell mates, his breathing getting shallow as he watched the realization dawn on their faces. “They must’ve-”

Peter hopped out of his bed too, gently removing his ties to the heart monitor, and the IV, and what looked like a modified morphine pump. Alex briefly noted how he’d done that much too gracefully for someone recovering for a stab wound. “May…” He breathed.

The doors of the MedBay swung open again, revealing a distressed looking Tony Stark. The man looked exhausted. He was walking with too much energy, his hair stuck up slightly as he ran his hand through it, and his eyebags were deep enough to be worrying.

“Boys, come on. Who decided it was a good idea to disconnect themsel-” Alex noticed how Tony Stark subconsciously neared Peter’s bed, holding on the edge of the frame. There was a level of comfort between Peter and Stark, and Alex watched as Tony looked up, mid-sentence, and realized Peter had been the one to take his wires out. The older man upturned his palms in the air in frustration. “Parker. I should’ve known.”

“Mister Stark-”

“We want to see our families.” Harry was stood by his bed, a hard look in his eye.

Stark ran a hand down his face. “Look- I get it, trust me. But you boys just went through a month of torture, malnutrition, lack of sleep, experimentation, and who knows what else- we’re still looking into it.” Alex pushed those memories away as they threatened to overwhelm him. “Just give it another couple of days, okay? We need to make sure you are all fit enough to-”

“We’re fine,” Percy’s voice was rough as he tried to get out of the bed. He held on tightly to his wound, wincing with the effort it took to shift himself out of the covers.

“Percy…” Harry muttered, starting towards the teenager, but Stark was there first. Warning the injured boy with a stern “Jackson,” he strode over to Percy and held him tightly from behind expertly as the boy fell back. They stayed like this for a moment while Percy caught his breath, looking uncomfortable.

Stark shot Peter a look, indicating to Percy with his head. “Don’t tell me you two are related,” he said, lowering Percy slowly back into his bed. “Unbelievable. Same _reckless_ indifference to your own-”

Percy groaned. “Look-”

“No, you look.” Tony Stark walked back to the foot of Peter’s bed, looking at the boys like a headmaster would. “You,” he glared at Peter, not unkindly, “were stabbed. You almost bled out.”

“But-”

Stark raised a hand, silencing Peter. “I don’t care that you have enhanced healing, kid. You were so malnourished, you almost-” the man shook his head and closed his eyes tightly. Alex’s curiosity was eating away at him. _Who is this man to Peter?_

“You, Jackson.”

“Present.”

“The bullet you nearly bled out from _shattered_ a couple of your ribs. Your weird lady friend gave us some Nectar, which is probably the only reason you’re recovering so fast.”

“Nectar? Like, from flowers?”

Tony Stark looked at Percy for a moment. There was a ghost of a smile on his face before he turned to Harry and Alex. “You two hadn’t had proper sleep in too long. It’s not a good idea to leave the MedBay yet. Another couple of days; doctor’s orders.”

“Mister Stark,” Peter mumbled quietly, gingerly sitting back on his bed, “thank you for helping us, really, but I know May is here, I can smell her perfume.”

Alex frowned. He couldn’t smell anything other than antiseptic and fresh sheets.

Stark sighed. “Kid, yes, your aunt’s been here since you got here.” He turned to Alex, “so has your family. They’ve come in as much as they could, but right now we just want to make sure you are fit enough to even see-”

“Sabina is here?” Alex asked. “I want to see her.”

Stark looked at the four boys, exasperated. His eyebrows rose when he found them staring back at him, determined. He shook his head, “nobody listens to a single thing I say, do they?” Before the boys could answer, he ordered: “FRIDAY, tell May and the Pleasures they can see their boys now.”

* * *

Tony stood, observing the scene with crossed arms. Steve was on his left, Clint and Natasha were on his right.

The bed on the far left was occupied by Peter and May. Tony desperately wanted to see how the kid was, but, as he watched them carefully, he knew they needed this time by themselves. May had taken leave from her work when she realized something was wrong with Peter, and had barely slept since. She’d stayed up, watching the news, helping the Avengers, calling police stations; she’d done everything in her power to get her boy back. Now, she was hugging him tightly. The two of them were quiet. There was too much to say, but they would have time for that later. They were exhausted, and Peter was too thin, too pale. They stayed in each other’s arms, eyes closed and crying softly.

On the far right was Alex. His friend Sabina had burst in like a bull, storming over to him and hugging him fiercely. She’d forced him back into bed before her parents could join her, and there they sat, talking about what happened. Elizabeth Pleasure couldn’t help but touch him affectionately, stroking his cheek, combing through his hair. It was almost as if she couldn’t quite believe he was actually here. Edward showed his relief by thanking the Avengers with a nod. The man was not one for sentimentality, but his fondness for Alex was tangible. They looked like a real family; Alex looked relaxed around them.

“I’m taking the wizard,” Clint whispered to Tony from the side of his mouth.

Tony raised an eyebrow at him, and Natasha nodded. “We discussed a deal with the MACUSA to return him safely. I want to ask him a few questions, but they’re eager to get him back to England, understandably.”

Tony turned to the wizard, who was chatting to Percy Jackson in low tones. The latter was smiling at something Harry Potter had said. They seemed nervous and looked slightly out of place between the two families.

“Fine. Cap and I take the smartass.”

“Yes,” Clint hissed in victory. “Was not up for meeting another demigod.”

Potter and Jackson looked up at soon as they saw movement from the Avengers. They became defensive; Harry sitting up suddenly and Percy glaring at them. Tony reminded himself that they had just been through a month of trauma; he could afford to turn on his bedside manner, especially since he could guess at what they were feeling.

Steve took a seat at the very edge of Percy’s bed, which the kid didn’t look very happy about. On the other bed, Peter gave Steve a hesitant look, at which Steve smiled soothingly. Tony turned his attention back on Percy and opted to stand on the other side of his bed.

“There’s a lady here who wants to see you,” Tony offered.

Jackson seemed to deflate in defeat, wincing as he did. “I know. She’s been trying to get into my head since I woke up.”

Tony filed that information away for later. “Who is she? Should we let her in?”

Percy’s face flinched as a myriad of emotions passed his face. For a moment, his face was moody and brooding, and something in Tony’s mind clicked.

Steve glanced at Tony, shooting him the telltale look that he was being insensitive. “We won’t let her in yet, Percy, don’t worr-”

“You’re the kid from the news,” Tony realized, wagging his finger in recognition. “You got kidnapped like, four years ago, was it? That’s you, right?”

“Tony…”

Percy frowned. He looked frustrated. “I don’t… I don’t really remember.”

Tony raised his eyebrow. “Your memories aren’t back yet?”

For a moment, the kid looked troubled. Milliseconds later, his face had changed into a cocky grin, and Tony knew what was coming next; he was also an expert at deflection. “Early-onset dementia, maybe? I’m sure you’ll know all about it, with your age and everything.”

Tony snorted, about to retort, when Steve shot him a glare. Final warning. “Percy, what you boys did was incredibly courageous. You did very well.”

Percy avoided Steve’s eyes, squirming. “How did you know where we were?”

“The walking Star-Spangled Banner?” Tony replied, not trying to hide the smile on his face as Peter’s eyes shot up to meet him. “Why don’t you go back to where you came from? Parker would never say something like that voluntarily, even to a stranger.” He watched the kid smile meekly at Steve again before locking eyes with Tony, something sparkling within them. “He told us where you were.”

“Baltimore, Inner Harbour,” Percy smiled at Peter with pride. “Genius kid”

“From then on, we just worked for anything that could pinpoint your location; cue the explosion.”

Not having heard what had gone on several meters behind her, May stirred, holding Peter at arm’s length. She whispered something to him and pulled out her phone, showing him her screen.

Tony was pulled back to focus when Percy asked, “are they going to be okay?”

The boy suddenly looked much older. He looked tired, beyond his lack of sleep, beyond his injuries.

“Yeah, kid.” Tony reassured, surprising himself. He knew that look, he’d felt that pressure, that worry before.

Steve put a hand on Percy duvet-covered calve. His face was soft and knowing, but he said nothing. Percy stared at Steve, unsure what to think of the man, then he melted into his bed. Tony had forgotten how tired the boy must have been, and wondered if it was safe to give him another dose of Nectar; the substance hadn’t exactly come with an instruction manual.

“I’m assuming you want to know what happened?” The boy drawled, his eyes growing heavy.

Tony reached forward to ruffle the kid’s hair. “Another time, Jackson.”

Steve slowly got up from the bed. “Try to sleep. We’re working on finding your family too.”

Percy’s eyebrows furrowed and he nodded, easing into the bed. Tony had the families and the Avengers moved out of the MedBay, determined to get back to the evidence he’d found in the ruins of the facility the boys had been kept in. Alexander Pierce was in prison, along with his Muppets, awaiting their case. Tony was determined to find enough evidence to keep them there for a few lifetimes.

* * *

“Where are you lot off to?”

Finally, they’d been cleared to leave the MedBay, although Alex knew they had been ready to go for a few days now. He suspected that the Avengers had kept them there until the Alexander Pierce and his men’s trials were over and they were sent to prison. The boys had watched most of the proceedings on television, unsure of how they felt about it. Alex couldn’t say he felt any safer or any less safe after he watched Rumlow’s apathetic face in the police car. He felt confused mostly. He only knew two things for sure: he wanted to get out of the Avengers compound, and he was going to find Jack.

She was still out there; he could feel it.

“The MACUSA’s following me back to England to make sure I get there.” Harry’s eyes were fixed ahead of him, looking for a car. His colour was back, and Alex noticed he’d stopped slightly shaking. It hadn’t occurred to him that it wasn’t a nervous habit, but instead stress related. “I’m going to meet everyone at the Burrow and squeeze the hell out of them. Then, I’m going to find the person responsible for assigning me to New York.” Harry bounced on the balls of his feet as he looked at the boys next to him. “What about you?”

“I’m heading back home with the Pleasures.” Alex shrugged, deciding to keep looking for Jack to himself. He knew the boys well by now, and they felt comfortable with each other, but it felt like a subject too private to talk about.

“Happy’s driving May and I back home.” Peter looked behind him as he spoke. His aunt was waiting for him there. The boy was in fresh clothes again. He had a phone in his back pocket, which frequently vibrated. The kid had been bored in the MedBay, and had driven Tony Stark crazy by reverse-engineering the technology around him. “We’re getting pizza. May said we could watch whatever movie I wanted.” A smile brightened his face. “She said I might be allowed to have Ned over after a few days.”

“Friend of yours?” Percy asked.

Peter hummed. Alex looked forward.

“I’m heading off to San Francisco.” Percy stated, his face blank. He had his faded, orange t-shirt and jeans on, with his necklace of clay beads.

“By yourself?” Alex asked.

“Yeah. Hera says I’ll find-” Percy cut himself off, shaking his head. “At least she gave me my pen back…” He mumbled, patting his pocket. Percy shook his head and smiled at the boys, “I need to do this.”

Peter frowned. “Are you sure? Maybe you can give me your number, just in case somethi-”

Percy smiled at Peter reassuringly. “Nah, thanks though. She said I’ll forget about the last month by the time I get there, so this might be the last time we…”

The atmosphere was thick. The boys all knew it was unlikely they’d ever see each other again. They felt odd. Glad to go home and get past what they had been through, but not wanting to leave each other just yet.

Their faces were no longer bruised, and they had been freed, but too much had happened to ignore; too many scars had been inflicted to forget about this.

They felt too worn out to cry. There were too many things to say. Instead, they just waited for Harry’s car to pull up in front of them and watched as he got in. The wizard looked at them until the car drove off.

As the car left, May Parker and the Pleasures led their boys to their cars. Percy gave their arms a squeeze, and the two younger teenagers watched through their windows as the demigod turned and walked out of the compound.

For a moment, Alex just watched the teenager get smaller and smaller the further he walked.

“Are you ready?” Sabina asked gently, holding his arm.

Alex nodded. “Let’s go.”


End file.
